


How did it come to this?

by HAIKYUU_127, sakuraxblossom



Category: Haikyuu!!, Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou - Freeform, Alternate Universe, Azumane Asahi/Nishinoya Yuu - Freeform, Blood and Injury, Blood and Violence, Fukurodani - Freeform, Haiba Lev/Yaku Morisuke - Freeform, Inarizaki, Itachiyama, Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru - Freeform, Karasuno, Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou - Freeform, M/M, Miya Atsumu/Sakusa Kiyoomi - Freeform, Miya Osamu/Suna Rintarou - Freeform, Multi, Nekoma, Past Kita Shinsuke/Miya Atsumu, Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi - Freeform, Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan References, Titans, haikyuu!! - Freeform, levihan - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:33:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 29,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27987753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HAIKYUU_127/pseuds/HAIKYUU_127, https://archiveofourown.org/users/sakuraxblossom/pseuds/sakuraxblossom
Summary: The walls that have been protecting them for a hundred years aren't going to protect them forever. Hinata, Kageyama, Tsukishima, Yamaguchi and thousands of others learn this the hard way. They are willing to fight for it but is the price really worth it? Are the enemies really just outside the walls?(HAIKYUU X SHINGEKI NO KYOJIN)
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Comments: 20
Kudos: 63





	1. How it began

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! This is my first work over here so, please forgive me for some minor mistakes here and there. This is a Attack On Titan and HAIKYUU! crossover. Keep in mind that this is more centered towards the HAIKYUU! characters with occasional appearances from the AOT characters. This may also contain minor manga spoilers from the manga of AOT. You have been warned. I will be keeping a simple theme and will not be including a lot of political features. This will contain violence and character death. So don't get too attached. I would love to hear you suggestions so, please go ahead.

_**The fall of Shiganshina was a wake up call for all of us. The walls that have been standing for a century aren’t going to protect us forever.** _

**“Hinata, you dumbass!”** yelled 9 year old Kageyama furiously. 

**“CATCH ME IF YOU CAN!”** Hinata yelled back with almost a mocking tone. He had taken Kageyama’s volleyball before rushing out in the peaceful streets of Shiganshina. The neighbors and street guards were used to seeing the young boys chasing after each other as though their lives were on the line. 

Reaching bare ground covered with mud and patches of grass, Hinata started running in circles with a frantic Kageyama behind him.

**“Your so slow Kageyama~”** said Hinata almost out of breath.

**“JUST WAIT UNTIL I CATCH YOU! I’LL BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF YOU!”** yelled Kageyama yet again. He was also out of breath after running after the short, orange-haired boy.

**“Y-you guys l-let’s calm down...”** said a short, young and timid Yamaguchi while he tried putting his tiny hands out to stop them. In return he got his hands pushed back(gently) by a taller,blonde boy.

**“Let them be. They won’t stop. ”**

**“B-but Tsukki ”**

**“It’s okay, its normal. The shrimp and the king both will get tired and collapse soon enough.”**

**“If you say so, Tsukki..."**

In less than 2 minutes after their conversation, both the black and orange-haired boys collapsed on the ground both frantically catching their breaths.

**“That… th-that is 73 wins and 75 loses for me.”** said a collapsed Hinata recuperating his breath.

**"B…. both of us fell at the same time so its a tie!”** said a broken Kageyama

**“BUT YOU DIDN’T GET THE BALL FROM ME!!! THAT’S A WIN FOR ME!”** yelled Hinata.

**“SHUT IT BO-”**

The black-haired boy was cut of by someone stuffing his mouth with a piece of bread.

**“Just shut up, listening to your conversation is making me lose braincells.”**

**“SHUT IT!"** says young Kageyama with bread in his mouth, with this Tsukishima scrunches up his face in disgust.

**“Eat or talk, choose one, you disgusting idiot.”**

**“D-don’t be mean Tsukki..."**

With this Tsukishima just looks away with a poker face. Tsukishima was smart, stubborn, ignorant and basically a dysaudicant. However, Yamaguchi had a certain effect on him. The stubborn Tsukishima seemed to listen to everything he said.

The orange haired boy who was now full of energy, stood up.

**“Tsukishima, isn’t your brother in the garrison?”**

**“Um, yeah, why?”**

**“ HOW COOL! I WANT TO JOIN THE GARRISON TOO!”**

Tsukishima covered his ears with his hands.

**“Do you only have two modes? It’s either 0% or 120%”**

To this Yamaguchi giggled. 

**“Hinata, didn’t you want to join the Survey Corps? “**

To this Kageyama fell silent.

**“I want to join whatever is cool! The survey corps are really cool but the Garrison is also cool! Uwahhh! I CAN’T CHOOSE!”**

**“Do you have to become a soldier?”** Kageyama whispered. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi who were standing next to him were the only ones who heard him. To this Tsukishima looked away in dismay and Yamaguchi frowned. They knew the dangers beyond the walls. 20% of the population has disappeared beyond the walls. 

None of them came from extremely wealthy families, they were all from middle-class to poor families. However, they were happy. Even if Tsukishima and Kageyama looked like they hated each other, they didn’t. They all genuinely cared about each other. The first time Hinata told them that he wanted to become a soldier, Kageyama didn’t speak to him for several days. Hinata might be oblivious to it but even amongst them, Kageyama cared about Hinata the most. They’ve known each other for the longest time. The two of them then met Yamaguchi and Tsukishima who were neighbors.

The three of them were against him joining the survey corps. However, they knew that he was stubborn and persistent. In the end they just left it, hoping that he would change his mind in the future. 

**“TRUST ME! I will become the coolest and strongest soldier out there! I’ll slay all the titans and become a hero! Then maybe I’ll become captain!”** The boy then went to to ‘predict’ his future. 

**“If only you make it till there alive.”** Tsukishima murmured under his breath. It wasn’t loud but because of most of them being quiet, it was quiet audible.

To this, Hinata fell silent.

**“Can’t you guys just trust me?!”** Hinata said in a rather annoyed tone.

**“Do you even understand the threat that titans possess?”** Tsukishima argued back.

To this Kageyama who was sitting down stood up.

**“I agree with the salt shaker.”**

**“KAGEYAMA! YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO TAKE MY SIDE!”**

“ **I’ll take the side of who I think is right, boke.”**

Yamaguchi stepped back. Such fights always happen but it seemed to happen more often now. It made him nervous and uneasy. He hated it. He had always been a timid and shy boy. Fights make him queasy, especially when they were in between his friends. 

His thought process was cut off when Kageyama suddenly grabbed Hinata’s shirts collar. 

**“G-guys let’s ca-calm down and talk about t-this..-”**

**“Shut it, Yamaguchi."** Tsukishima blurted. It was clear to him that Tsukishima was irritated.

** "G-gomen Tsukki...!" **

He quietly backed off and sat huddled by himself. The three of them then got caught in an argument. Soon enough they all got tired of it and backed off. Tsukishima went and sat next to Yamaguchi. The other two remained silent. 

Kageyama went and stood against a fence looking somewhere far. Hinata fell on his back, choosing to look at the sky. 

Something felt wrong to Yamaguchi. The uneasiness didn’t disappear. He felt really queasy. He thought it was because of the fight. However, it didn’t disappear even after that. After a while of feeling sick down his throat, he decided to speak up.

**“Tsukki, can we go ho-”**

He was cut off by a giant explosion. 

The feeling of anguish had now taken over his body. He sensed danger from every direction. He just wanted to go home.

**“What was that?”** The orange-haired boy asked.

**“A canon?”** Kageyama replied.

**“No…. somethings not right.”** Tsukishima said.

**“ CAN WE JUST-”** everyone was caught off guard by Yamaguchi who just yelled. He was usually shy and soft-spoken. He looked absolutely terrified and distressed. 

**“ Can we just go home, like right now?”** he was trembling. Tsukishima who immediately got worried about him, agreed.

**“Let’s g-“**

**“W…what is that?** ” Hinata said pointing far away

Yamaguchi didn’t want to turn. He knew it was over. He knew something was wrong. He forced himself to turn around and felt his body melt. It was a titan. Not just any titan a titan with its head above the wall. The wall that was 50 meters high. For some reason he felt nothing. Just... a bottomless pit of emptiness. 

Then they felt a huge wave of hot air, and the next thing they knew, debris was flying. The smell of blood and flesh became distinct. They could see titans entering through the gate.

Kageyama and Hinata were yelling something along the lines of _let’s run_ or _come on_ but Yamaguchi could hear nothing. It all felt so empty to him. Fear forgotten. He was brought back to his senses with a warm, tingly sensation on his cheek. He could see Tsukishima in front of him. He then realized Tsukishima had just slapped him. Yamaguchi felt tears streaming down his face. It wasn’t because of pain. He was scared. So scared. He felt like everyone had just left him alone. After all, which idiot would stay here during this crisis. 

However there they were. The three of them were there holding his hand, pulling him with them. All of them were scared. He could feel them shaking. Despite being the smallest amongst all of them Hinata was pulling him. He was fast. He could easily leave him and save himself, however, he wasn’t. 

The screams and loud thuds was now more clear. He had grasped the situation, he knew that if he didn’t get it together all of them would die. He forced himself to move. He was scared beyond words. There were bloody, dead bodies besides him. He could hear children crying with adults screaming frantically. He wanted to help but he knew that now wasn’t the time to be playing hero. He was just a kid. 

_‘pull yourself together’_

He can’t save anyone.

_‘pull yourself together’_

Right now he was simply being a burden to his friends. 

_‘pull yourself together!’_

Even with his legs trembling and his body not operating as usually he forced himself to go past his limits. The thuds were louder. There was a titan behind him 

‘I’m going to die’

The titan was behind him

‘I’m going to die’

The titan was going to rip his limbs apart 

‘I’m going to die’

An extremely loud thud caused all of them to fall flat on the ground.

The worst nightmare was going to come true. There was a titan about 8 meters tall, it was smiling. He felt his soul leave his body, tears streaming down his face. His friends weren’t any better. Was this it? Was he going to die like this? Is it over? Was he going to die as a burden? Would it have been better if he wasn’t here. Should he not have left home? His house was north of Shiganshina, the gate to Trost was closer. He _defiantly_ should have stayed home. 

He felt himself being lifted of the ground by a hand. It took him a moments to realize that it wasn’t the hand of a titan. He was high off the ground when he turned his head around to see Akiteru. A wave of relief was sent through his body. Tsukishima’s brother, Akiteru, saved him. Both him and Tsukishima. There was another guy from the garrison in front of them. He had Hinata and Kageyama with him. 

The ODM gear made him queasy but they managed to get away from Shiganshina. The came closer to the boats. With Akiteru’s connections to the Garrison all four of them managed to make it to the front of the line.

Tsukishima frantically grabbed onto his brother asking him to board the boat as well. Yamaguchi couldn’t hear quiet well but it was clear that Akiteru had declined. He could see tears streaming down Tsukishima’s face. Akiteru then suddenly gave Tsukishima a hug. From the back he could see the older boy's face. It was scrunched up in distress. It wouldn’t have been clear to many people but to Yamaguchi it was clear. Akiteru was scared. He hid it really well in front of Tsukishima.

They allowed them to board the boat. Just as they entered the boat there was another huge thud causing the boat to shake. The four of them fell down and there it was…… _another hole in the wall_. There was another titan but unlike the other titans they had seen, this one had weird amour-looking skin. The boat was set to sail immediately. Even with the boat set to sail, he could see everything.

There was a small but fast titan. It had what seemed to be a scull protecting its face. It killed people left and right. It didn’t eat anyone but just killed them for what seemed like fun to it. People were getting eaten, they were getting killed in front of him. Many tried to jump into the boat which failed miserably. Yamaguchi felt horrible. Before he could witness anything further, Tsukishima took his hands and covered Yamaguchi’s eyes. He had used his hood to cover his own eyes. 

_ The wall had fallen. This marked humanity's darkest day.  _


	2. The beginning

It had been two days since the incident. All refugees were forced to stay in a place meant for food reserves. Tsukishima received a word about his families death. His brothers life had been taken by what they referred to as the jaw titan. Kageyama and I could just watch as Tsukishima broke down. The all-so-might Tsukishima fell down on the ground drowning in tears. His cries were filled with agony, grief and regret. Yamaguchi hugged the taller boy while crying as well. Akiteru was close to all of them. He was like their cool older brother from the garrison. Without him they would have all died. The thought of him dying was something Hinata never imagined.

This is reality.

He is merely livestock to them. Humanity can’t win. They lived under the fear of titans. They were going to die. They were going to be eaten.

The thought of it made Hinata tear up. It felt like someone stabbed him in gut. Tears were threatening to stream down his face. He wanted to scream but nothing came out. It felt like there was a huge bubble waiting to burst. His face tensed up and turned red because of frustration. Even now, he isn’t able to do anything for Tsukishima who is probably facing the worst time of his life. He can’t do anything fro Tsukishima, let alone humanity. His dreams were going to remain dreams.  
‘Greatest soldier of humanity, Hinata Shoyo my ass.’

Hinata felt someone grab his hand. He looked down to see Kageyama holding his hand. That’s right. He must also be upset. There was no word about his family. Everyone who came from the ship was mixed up. None of them could find their families.

A few days went by like that. Everyone was rather quiet, food was limited to just a loaf of bread per day. Kageyama’s family was declared dead with him the only survivor. Hinata found his younger sister Natsu, who lived because of the sacrifice of their parents. Many refugees were forced into heavy labour to compensate for the food shortage. Kids were often made to work in farms and mills. Yamaguchi’s father who survived, died in a factory because of equipment failure.

A month later the four boys found themselves together in the night. They sat by a river. It was so peaceful and quiet, no one would believe what they had just been through. They embraced the silence amongst themselves for a while.

“ I’m going to join the training cadets”  
The one to break the silence was Kageyama. Under normal circumstances it would have been shocking to them but right now when everything was so vague to them, they knew one thing for sure. They wanted to wipe them out. They wanted to end the disgusting and evil creatures who took everything from them. They wanted to end titans.

“Me too” the blonde-head replied  
“I guess that make the three of us” hinata told  
“I’m scared of titans.” the green-head told. This caused everyone to look at him. He was huddled by himself. “ They really scare me. I would rather not look at them again.”  
“It’s okay, you don’t have to joi-”  
“But I hate them, my hate for that creature exceeds my fear.”  
He looked up towards them.  
“That alone is more than enough for me to join the cadets. I will. I’ll join the cadets as well”  
He didn’t want to see anyone get killed for their(titans) entertainment. The sheer look of determination in his eyes was more than enough for them. For the first time in a month they smiled.  
“I guess it’s settled then.” hinata stated  
“Your right.” Kageyama joined. “ Let’s put an end to them”

“KID! WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?”  
“I’M SHOYO HINATA FROM SHIGANSHINA DISTRICT SIR!”  
“IS THAT SO?! A NAME FIT FOR FIRST-GRADE TITAN FOOD!”  
“I’LL DO MY BEST TO BE TITAN FOOD!”  
“NO! THAT’S NOT WHY YOUR HERE! WHY ARE YOU HERE?!”  
“TO DEVOTE MYSELF TO THE VICTORY OF HUMANITY!”  
“IS THAT SO?! LET’S HOPE THAT YOU WON’T GET EATEN THEN!”

He told himself that he was prepared but h wasn’t ready for this. He felt his cheeks get hot in embarrassment. He could be the instructor yell at other cadet trainees. Through the embarrassment the four boys told themselves.  
‘I’m here now’  
‘I’ll defeat the titans.’  
‘the titans that took my family away’  
‘the titans that took my home away’  
‘we’ll pulverise them!’

“I’ll do my best to be titan food. What the hell was that you dumbass?” said a kageyama reluctantly  
“S-shut up! You don’t understand because he didn’t tell you anything! Why did he ignore you though? It’s not fair! Both Yamaguchi and I had to go through that!”  
“I think he skipped those who seemed determined enough” Yamaguchi told  
“We are determined enough!”  
“I’m pretty sure but I thi-”  
“Don’t bother an idiot won’t possibly get it”  
“T-tsukki!”

It had been 3 years since that hell. The four boys decided to enrol into the cadets when they were 12. There were others of their age and a surprising amount of people from Shiganshina. It surprised them that there were people who were willing to fight titans after facing the wrath of them. But it was going to be okay. They were going to get strong. They are going to win.

After taking the wrong path six times and getting lost, the four boys found themselves in the cafeteria after a long day. It was nearly midnight. There was a surprising amount of people considering the fact that it was nearly midnight and that they had their first test the next day. It was an a aptitude test . It was mandatory to excel in that, it would be impossible to become a soldier without passing it. It made Yamaguchi and Hinata nervous, amongst the four of them, these two almost always found themselves getting nervous and losing confidence. Just as their nerves were getting the better of them, they heard a few boys arguing.

“Shut the hell up! I backed off!”  
“WHO CARES! I’M SO DAMN JEALOUS!”  
“HUH?! WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!”

Sighing, Tsukishima walked out of the cafeteria after flaming to be ‘not hungry’. Yamaguchi quickly took two loaves of bread and rushed out in hopes of catching up to him. Both Kageyama and Hinata ignored the two’s fight and sat far away in hopes of not getting involved. The sound of the two was too loud for them so they decided to quickly eat and go to bed.

The assessment was nerve-wracking. Most people were able to do it in a whim, this made both Yamaguchi and Hinata think that it would be just fine. However, as soon as they calmed down a boy went tumbling down to the ground. It was Eren Yeager. They didn’t feel confused nor embarrassed, they could feel their soul leave their bodies. It was possible to fall like that? They were going to fall. They were going to fail. Yamaguchi’s fall become extremely pale and blue. Hinata could feel the urge to throw up.

“I-I need the re-restroo-”  
“Again?!” Kageyama said with visible distress in his voice “Just hold it in or something”  
“I-I can’t”  
“Even I want to go” said a panicking Yamaguchi  
“You guys can’t go, besides how bad could it possibly b-“  
“You’ll do just fine” said Tsukishima who caught all of their attention. So, far he had just been quiet, concentrating.  
“If it’s the three you you, I’m pretty sure you’ll be fine”  
In general he never had any confidence in them, but he knew for sure that they would do just fine.  
“Your weight and height will help you so, don’t worry. Tighten your belt, keep your head high and concentrate all your weight on the lower part of your body. You won’t fall”  
The two of them felt their confidence come back to them. Smile crawling up on their faces.  
“Thank you, Tsukki!”  
he simply looked away  
“Even though you’re a jerk most of the time, you’re a really good person Tsukishima!”  
“If you don’t concentrate you’ll fall” said Tsukishima. This caused hinata to jump a little. He could feel a small smile crawl up his face.

“SHOYO HINATA!”  
“Y-YES SIR!”  
“Thomas, fasten his belt to the hook. HURRY!”  
“YES SIR! RIGHT AWAY!”

His nerves were getting a better of him once again. Concentrate all you weight! Concentrate all you weight! If that Tsukishima says that you will be fine, you will!

He couldn’t bring himself to look up.  
“Raise him up! Begin!”  
He took a deep breath in and out. He could feel his feet leave the ground. A mere millisecond seemed like forever to him. This was merely an aptitude test. It was just the beginning to everything that was to come but, he was scared. Could he really slay titans with his will? He felt fine, so far it was fine. He was still going up. It was going to be okay. Just as he said that, he could feel his body loosing balance. He couldn’t look up. He was going to fall! He forced himself to look up in panic and the first thing he saw was Kageyama’s face in a distance. Generally, he would get annoyed and pissed off at Kageyama’s face. He usually wore an annoying smirk which pissed Hinata off to the maximum. But for the first time in what felt like ages, he could see worry in Kageyama’s face. With that he felt his worry, concern and stress fade away. He was calm and composed. For the first time the other three boys saw a different side of Hinata. He wasn’t wavering in the slightest bit. His body was still, he was completely focused on his task and body. It was like nothing and no one else existed. Even the ice-cold, harsh instructor was surprised. It was as if he was stone. Almost as if his equipment and body were frozen in time. That’s right. Everyone here is human. He can let Kageyama carry his anxiety for bit. He wasn’t going to lose to anyone. He was determined.  
“Woahh! Do you see that!”  
“He’s frozen solid!”  
“That is so cool! How can he stay that still!”  
“I heard that he’s from Shiganshina”  
“He wants to become a soldier even after that?!”

Amongst all the noise and blabber, a certain boy with dyed blonde hair stood.  
“Huh… not bad Shoyo, not bad.”

After what seemed like forever, the instructor asked the other cadets to pull the lever down, so that Hinata could be put down. The minute he was put down, Hinata could feel his energy and nerves come back.  
“Not bad Hinata... Cadet Hinata.”  
For some weird reason he could feel himself tear up. This was it. The official start of everything. He could now become powerful.  
After returning to his original place he received some heavy compliments from fellow cadets, Yamaguchi and a ‘not bad’ from Tsukishima. but even after all that, he could feel himself looking for a certain someone. After going through the crowd, he spotted him. He spotted Kageyama. Running towards him and looking up at him from compliments, the boy was given nothing. Kageyama simply looked away. Not giving up, Hinata followed his gaze. Finally giving into this, the extremely sceptical Kageyama raised his hand and patted Hinata.  
“Nuff-knife- nice”

“WHAT IS HE A DOG?!”  
Despite the absolutely distressed and disappointed sigh of Tsukishima in the background, Hinata felt nice about it. It was one of the first times that Kageyama had complimented him. He could feel a smile crawl up his face. Kageyama who noticed this looked away in embarrassment.

“TOBIO KAGEYAMA!”  
Taken completely off guard Kageyama replied “Y-YES SIR!”

It was nearly evening by the time everyone was done. Several who had passed still decided to leave. On request, Eren was given another chance to redeem himself. The four of them all passed. Hinata was told to have had the best performance. Because of this he found himself in a situation with Eren in front of him.  
“Please help me!”  
“I-uh sure I mean I don’t mind but, I really don’t think there’s a trick to it”  
“Please just come with me once!”  
“Sure let-”  
“Why bother Shoyo-kun?”  
the two of them were interrupted by a boy with dyed blond hair. He was probably a little taller than Tsukishima, definitely older than him.  
“I’m sorry, you ar-“  
“Miya Atsumu.” Kageyama cut him off.  
It took a minute for Hinata to recognise the name. It was the guy who did third-best in today’s assessment. It wouldn’t be recognisable to other but Hinata knew that there was something wrong with Kageyama. He had this rather pissed off expression.  
“Can I help you, Atsumu-san?” said Hinata  
“Why bother with those who suck?”  
This statement caught everyone’s attention.  
“W-what do you mean by that?”  
“Oi!” said a rather pissed off Eren. To this Atsumu merely smirked. “ What do you mean by that?”  
“I wasn’t talking to you, Eren Yeager. You do not spike my interest at all. After all I’m not interested in the weak.”  
Mikasa, a girl with Eren then soon spoke up “ Eren is not wea-”  
“um.. Miya-san. I don’t know you well so, I apologise in advance but if you think failing at one thing makes someone weak then you are wrong. I think Eren determination alone makes him extremely strong and if that is not enough to ‘spike your interest’ then I suggest you change your mentality”  
Atsumu looked rather surprised and soon burst out in laughter. This caught everyone off guard.  
“As expected… you are interesting Shoyo-kun” he waited for his laughter to die down  
“I apologise Eren-san, I’m sure your not weak.” he turned towards the opposite direction on his heel. “ Do your best tomorrow”  
“What was that?” Armin asked  
“I don’t quiet get it but please help Hinata-san” said a panicked Eren  
“I’ll help you don’t worry. Also Just Hinata is fine”  
Eren then gave a small smile  
“Thank you Hinata.”

“Like I said, you got to feel it. When you feet leave the ground you feel a ‘woosh’ and then you body goes ‘ka-boom’ and you feel a ‘zap’ and feels like ‘gyun!’” To this the entire group looked utterly confused.  
“It’s no good, you’re teaching on instinct, it doesn’t make any sense to me.” Armin said  
“Really? I can follow though” Said Kagaeyama  
“You both are of the same breed so it makes sense to you” said an extremely disappointed Tsukishima.  
“I don’t quiet get it Hinata. This isn’t going to help me. Eren had visible distress on his face. Tsukishima who noticed this asked him to try once again. Eren felt his head hit the ground with a huge sound. All of them decided that it was best to call quits after that.  
“Tsukki is something wrong?”  
“There’s something wrong with his belt.”  
“Wait what? Shouldn’t we go tell him that?”  
“No it’s fine, leave it.”  
“But-“  
“He’ll do just fine tomorrow, trust me”  
“Okay…..”

Eren was given his last chance and he surprisingly got up, only to be thrown back down. Eren looked like his world had just ended. To his surprise, the instructor asked for his belt to be changed. He successfully finished his assessment.  
“How did you know Tsukki?”  
“The instructor was suspicious, plus his metal fittings seemed old and rusted. It probably broke off a little”  
“Why didn’t you tell anything”  
“I wanted to check if the instructor really had anything to do with it”  
With a moment of silence Yamaguchi spoke up again  
“You really are amazing, Tsukki.”  
Tsukishima chose to ignore the comment.

**Training had begun. They were going to become soldiers, all of them.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, We're done with Chapter 2! I hope you guys enjoyed it! Please feel free to leave suggestions and corrections.I will continue to update this story every 4-6 days. I apologise in advance for delay's. PLS NOTE!: I will be changing and modifying the story to my liking. The main events will stay the same but I will be adjusting the rest to fit the plot in my mind. If something offends you or you feel the need for me to change something please let me know. I am not going to guarantee that I will change it accordingly but if it does become an issue I will do so.


	3. It just begu-

Reiner Braun. He is gifted both physically and mentally. More than anything, his comrades trust him deeply.

Atsumu Miya. Again he is both mentally and physically talented. He can see his surroundings clearly even in a pinch. However, he is very picky about the people he works with.

Osamu Miya. Being the twin brother of Atsumu, just like Atsumu he is talented both mentally and physically. However, unlike his twin brother he is more suited for physical fights.

Eren Yeager. He isn’t particularly talented physically or mentally howver, his determination and will makes up for it. He is willing to work until it breaks him.

Mikasa Ackerman. You call it a genius, I call it Mikasa Ackerman. She has great control over her body, works well with swords and remains calm.

Hinata Shoyō. Another who rivals Mikasa. His height works to his advantage. He works ridiculously well with the ODM gear. His speed and skills with it is unrivalled. He makes his presence known and hence, it would be no joke to call him ‘The Greatest Decoy’. However, after he gets ‘into it’ he loses sight of his surroundings which could result to be fatal.

Kageyama Tobio. Another genius. He has great technique and continues to move forward. What makes him truly strong is his will to not lose. Just like the Miya twins, Kageyama and Hinata use each other to become stronger and stronger. The two of them together will reach great heights.

Annie Leonhart. Her combat skills are at the top of the class, works extremely well with blades. However, she is a lone wolf and hence, doesn’t work well with groups which is vital.

Shinsuke Kita. He hasn’t been talented with physical abilities, his skills lack as well. However, he uses wits to make up for it. Being incredibly smart he uses his surroundings to his advantage and keeps his composure no matter how sticky the situation is.

Rintarou Suna. He is incredibly fast and calm. He makes his presence unknown then he observes and strikes. Almost like a hungry wolf. However, he has limited his comrades to the Miya twins and and Shinsuke.

Jean Kiristein. Works well with the ODM gear. His personality makes it hard for him to get along with others.

Bertholdt Hoover. Incredibly skilled but his timid natures makes it hard for him to improve on himself.

Tsukishima Kei. Another calm and collected one. His height helps him with the way he uses blades. He remains unknown and acts as a secret weapon at times.

Yamaguchi Tadashi. His medical knowledge and skills will most certainly help during battles. He works well in a two-man team with Tsukishima.

Connie Springer. He has sharp turns but his mind isn’t half as sharp enough. His senses make it easier for escape danger.

Sasha Braun. She isn’t particularly skilled at anything. Average skills in everything she is an all-rounder though. She has sharp ears which work for her advantage. However, just like Connie, her brain isn’t nearly sharp enough.

It has been 2 years. Two years since they begun training. 5 years since mankind fell.But it was going to be different. They were different. The next time it would happen again mankind would win. They were confident.

Their instructor Keith Shadis had whipped them into shape. They would get little to no rest with brutal training over and over again. Anyone who witnessed this would call it ‘hell’. But the cadets who lived in Shiganshina knew what true hell was, this was nothing. The instructor would constantly yell at fellow cadets, dragging their spirits down. It was clear to several that it had to be done however, many gave up because of the harsh training and living conditions. Instructor Shadis kept a notebook with him, he recorded everyones performance. It was shocking to have so many this talented in one group. He had high hopes for all of them.

“ Shoyō-kun!” said Miya Atsumu emerging from behind a huge crowd of cadets.  
“ Atsumu-san!” The orange haired boy replied cheerfully, waving his hand at Atsumu.  
In general, Atsumu was hard to approach and talk to. He was picky about the people he surrounded himself with. Due to this his social circle was limited to Osamu, Suna, Kita, Hinata, Kageyama, Reiner and Bertholdth. He had grown to like Hinata because of his unpredictability and determination. Hinata was a clumsy person but on field he was like a completely different person.

“ Good job on the ODM test today, but as expected you’re at the top of the class when it comes to 3D maneuver gear.”  
“ Atsumu-san you also came first in the physical test! You’re so cool! I could never do that!”  
Atsumu blushed in embarrassment, looking away while trying not to grin from ear to ear. It had been a while since he felt so good.  
“ I-is that so? I never really thought much about it”  
“ It’s really cool!!”  
“ Then maybe I’ll help you if you need it!”  
“ Will you really?! Thank you so much!”

Atsumu felt a hand on his shoulder, with that he turned his hear around to find a serious-looking Kita  
“ Kita-san!”  
That was Hinata’s red flare. Kita had always seemed as a nice person to him however, every time Hinata and Atsumu talked, Kita would turn into an ice-cold person. Almost like he didn’t like Hinata.

“ Atsumu you shouldn’t waste your energy. We just finished training, you should take a shower, eat and go to sleep.”  
“ Ah! Kita-san, Atsumu-san and I were just talking abo-”  
“ You shouldn’t talk to him after practice, he overworks himself a lot, you’re tiring him out further.”  
“ I-I uh-I’m sor-“  
Hinata was cut off by a strong hand on his shoulder  
“ I believe it was Atsumu-san who started talking to him.”  
He didn’t even need to turn around to look at who it was. It was most definitely Kageyama.

There was a moment of tension which felt like forever. Both of them stared dead in each others eyes. It was like being put in a pressure cooker.

Kita was the first to look away. He had a rather disinterested face.

“ Is that so? My bad. I apologise Hinata-kun.”  
“ H-huh No! It’s fine! I-It’s my fault really!”  
“ Like hell it is you dumbass.” the last part was only for him and hinata to hear  
However to anyone listening it was clear that Kita wasn’t really sorry. It was almost always like that when it came to Atsumu.  
By the time he finished spacing out, Kita had already managed to take Atsumu away  
“ If you have something to tell, tell it right at their face.”  
“ huh?”  
“ He clearly wasn’t sorry.”  
“ It’s fine, leave it”  
“ No it isn’t. You should stop associating yourself with Atsumu-san.”  
“ Don’t be stupid, Kita-san might have simply been in a bad mood.”  
Kageyma sighed in defeat. There was nothing he could do to convince Hinata otherwise.  
“ Whatever you say.”  
“ huh? It rare of you to be so understan-”  
“ But if he picks a fight with you once again, I’ll take the privilege of beating the crap out of him during training”  
“ What?! NO! THAT’S NOT HOW IT WO-“  
“ You guys! You’re not going to get dinner if you don’t hurry up!”  
It was Armin. Well food over anything so, the conversation was forgotten at once. Both the boys raced their ways to the cafeteria. After the belt incident with Eren, the three of them( Eren, Armin and Mikasa) became good friend with the rest of them. Armin almost always found himself with Eren or Tsukishima and Yamaguchi, while Eren would stick with Hinata or Armin. Kageyama and Mikasa would find each other left out while their two ‘best friends’ talked to each other.

“ CONGRATULATIONS ON GRADUATING FROM THE 104TH TRAINEE SQUAD! HANDS OVER YOUR HEARTS!”  
“ YES SIR!”  
“ For all you cadets who graduated today, three paths open before you. You can be stationed at the walls and defend the city as members of the Garrison! You can put your lives on the line to fight against titans in their own territory as the Recon Corps! And finally, you can serve the king by controlling the crowds and maintaining order as the members of the Military Police Brigade! Of course only the top fifteen people with the highest scores are allowed into the military police!”

“ The fifteen: Sasha Blouse, Connie Springer, Kita Shinsuke, Jean Kiristine, Tsukishima kei, Suna Rintaro,Eren Yeager, Atsumu Miya, Osamu Miya, Annie Leonhart, Bertholdth Hover, Kageyama Tobio, Hinata Shoyō, Reiner Braun and finally, Mikasa Ackerman! GIVE YOUR HEARTS!”

“ YES SIR!”

They were here. They completed the first hurdle. They can now fight against titans for humanity. They can win. Watch us everyone, we will avenge you.

“ Have you guys chosen your teams?” Armin asked  
“ Yup!” Hinata answered enthusiastically “ All of us are going to join the Recon corps”  
Armin’s face fell a little.  
“ Is something wrong?” Yamaguchi asked  
“ Are you sure you want to join there? More than half of them die during expeditions.I….. I don’t want you guys to die..”  
Hinata’s and Yamaguchi’s face fell as well. After a moment of silence, Kageyama broke it  
“ It is dangerous… we know that.”  
“ But we have our goals set out straight.” Tsukishima continued “ I will find the jaw titan, I can’t die before that….. no, I will not die before that.”  
“Just like he said.”  
“ Armin aren’t you joining the recon corps as well?”  
“ Well yes but…”  
“ Then it’s the same right!”  
“ Eh?” Armin’s thought process was cut off as Hinata nearly jumped on him.  
“ We’re all going to see this through till the end!”  
Armin’s frown was replaced with a subtle smile, the depressing atmosphere had changed thanks to Hinata. Only if Hinata ever knew how thankful everyone was to him.  
“ You’re rig-”  
Armin was cut off by Kageyama who pulled Hinata back up and off Armin by the back off his collar.  
“ Don’t simply jump on people, you dumbass..”  
“ R-right. Sorry but that Armin-San!”  
“ Its no problem, really.”

Kageyama, Atsumu, Kita, Hinata, Eren, Sasha, Mina and Thomas were assigned to canon maintenance. They found themselves over Wall Rose in Trost district. It was peaceful. The wind blew fast their faces. It was really clear and clean up.  
“ So, apparently Connie is planning on joining the recon corps.” “ Wait what?!” Eren partially yelled.  
“ After listening to Eren yesterday it inspired him to join as well”  
“ You really don’t have to!”  
“ S-Shut it!” an embarrassed connie said “ I amn’t doing this because of you. I just…. I JUST CHANGED MY MIND OKAY?!”  
“ huhhhh?” Mina said in an attempt to embarrass him “ Your face is real red”  
Connie covered his face with his hands and turned away  
“ Ho! Is the mighty soldier Connie Springer an undercover shoujo manga protagonist?”  
To this everyone started laughing, even Kita gave a small smile while looking away,Atsumu clearly teasing him.

“ You guys! I sneaked in some meat!”  
Everyone’s heart dropped, it was Sasha.  
“ Wait! Did you steal it?” Connie asked  
“ I borrowed it!” Sasha said a in whisper-scream.“ Let’s eat it together later!”  
“ Are you joking?! We’re going to be put in solitary confinement because of you!”  
“ Yeah, meat is a luxury now that we’ve lost so much land”  
“ Don’t worry!” she said as she put the meat in a box “ Once we take back the land, we can keep loads of cows and pigs!”  
Everyone was a little shocked but smiled.  
“ I-I’ll take that meat!” Thomas declared.  
“ Yeah, me too.” Connie said.  
“ Count me in as well!” Mina exclaimed.  
“ Kageyama and I will have some too!” Hinata said excitedly.  
“ Don’t go deciding things for me you dumbass!” Kageyama said as he jumped to attack Hinata.  
“ So are you or are you not?” Eren asked  
Stoping, Kageyama blushed a little while looking down “ I’ll have some” he said in a small voice.  
Everyone smiled.  
“ Are they dumb? They’re going to get in trouble..” Atsumu said from the back.  
“ Let them be. We have nothing to do with this.” Osamu replied to his brother.

They can get back the land that they once lost. They’re strong. Mankind’s comeback has just begun...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry about the long wait! I wanted to upload on Christmas but I couldn't make it on time. I did adjust the timeline and incidents in this book to my liking. If there are any problems or mistakes pls let me know, I'll change it accordingly! Thanks for reading!


	4. Save and be saved

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The comeback of humanity had just begun, what just happened? Why did it happen?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I suggest Listening to some Epic soundtrack playlist(?) while reading this( better if its AOT ost)!!

There it was 

The same as 5 years ago. Its almost skinless, boney face peeking up the wall. Eyes almost black with small pupils, it was the epitome of danger. 

It felt like time stopped, all everyone could do was stare at its huge face. Hinata remembered everything, the day it first appeared. It was the same, everything was the same. Its large face staring at all the people, slowly kicking its leg up in an attempt to kick the gate. They couldn’t afford to lose Trost. If they lose Trost and wall Rose it would be over for humanity. They couldn’t possibly survive. 

Hinata, who had been confident about his skills felt his mind go blank. The survey corps, right the survey corps, they could help. Wait no, they left on an expedition this morning, what’s going to happen now? Will they have to take this big guy on? All by themselves? Them inexperienced cadets? 

His thoughts were cut off by a huge impact against his feet. As he lost balance, he realised that the gate had been broken. The wall had been breached. A huge cloud of hot steam was let out by the huge titan. Hinata knew that he had to move, he knew it, but his legs wouldn’t move. He was scared stiff. Sweat dripped down his face, the steam was coming. Everything was so slow, a second felt like a century. He was going to die. He could see his friends scurry off scared, but he couldn’t move. This was it. That steam could burn one alive. He was going to die. 

His thoughts were cut off as he felt someone wrap their arms around him. Reassuring arms. He could feel his mind clear up as he felt the impact of air against his body. It was Kageyama. Kageyama saved him. 

“ Kagey-”  
“ Get it together, dumbass!! You can’t die yet!”  
Hinata could feel tears form in his eyes. He thought he was ready, he wasn’t. His grip on Kageyama tightened. He wasn’t going to let go yet.  
A loud voice called out “ 5th Canon maintenance unit! Prepare for battle!” It was Eren  
“ Our opponent is right in front of us! It’s the colossal titan! This is our chance! Don’t let it get away!”  
How could he do that? How could he be so brave? He could die instantly. He coul-

“ Everyone here is scared…. even Eren” Kageyama began, Hinata turned his head towards him  
“ Even iI’m scared…. but if we let our fear control us we cannot fly. We can never be free. That’s why” Kageyama who was staring at a distance, faced Hinata. “ That’s why we cannot die just yet, not when there’s so much we’re yet to see” 

Hinata was in a daze. Everything made so much sense to him. He remembered everything, his fear, his hate, his determination, his training, all those days of hell which he endured. That’s right, there were so many time where they could have died, but they didn’t. He just had to remain calm and think straight. He’ll make it, he was certain.

Getting off Kageyama and immediately fastening himself against the wall. He faced Kageyama.

“ Thank you Kageyama, I’m sorry, I won’t waver again.”  
Kageyama felt a smug smile appear on his face  
“ Also… I won’t die just yet! So, you shouldn’t either!”  
With that, Hinata set off, following Eren’s lead. Kageyama let out a sigh of relief. He was certain Hinata wouldn’t die. Relief was quickly exchanged with a look concentration and comprehension. Unlike Eren and Hinata, he wasn’t going to charge the colossal titan straight on. He wasn’t really smart in general, but he had a good idea off what to do. He was going to leave the colossal titan to Eren and Hinata. He was going to kill a few down there. Right now he had to buy some time for the citizens to evacuate. Looking closely at the opponents below him, he scanned the area. There were several titans ranging from 4-13 meter classes. He had to take out as many as possible without actually dying. He quickly looked at his fellow cadets. Most of them like hinata were scared stiff. He knew that he had to take the lead. He was a horrible leader and would avoid that role at all costs but right now what he wanted didn’t matter. This was the case of life and death  
“ Everyone else remaining! Leave the colossal titan to Eren and Hinata! Take on the small ones down there!”  
That’s right. that’s all they can do for now. Kageyama quickly rushed down to kill a 11-meter class one. 

He let his ODM gear hit the titan right at the nape, quickly accelerating, he began his spin. The titan who seemed to have noticed, turned his head a little towards Kageyama. He hesitated for a split second, he could feel fear as that creature stared at him dead in the eye. He wanted to run away but he couldn’t. He had to stay loyal to duty. He could feel his blade piercing through its though skin, blood surging out of the open wound. It was a good cut, 1 meter wide, 10 centimetres deep. He could feel the hot blood coming in contact with his face. This was it. His first kill. The titan collapsed forward. This caught the attention of other titans who began to face him. 

Kageyama felt fear surging in his body, but he couldn’t let it take control of him. Keeping this in mind, he climbed up the wall a bit. Around 4 titans started walking and jumping towards him. his goal wasn’t to kill titans but to buy time. With this he could at least buy sometime for the citizens. However there were plenty of other titans, this is all he could do with his current power and skill. With a loud thud behind the wall, Kageyama turned his head around. The colossal titan wasn’t there anymore. What happened? Did Eren and Hinata take it down? He was worried but he trusted Hinata. That boy wasn’t going to die just yet. 

While he was distracted he didn’t see a huge titan in front of it. Its face right in front of his. It was going to eat him. His body wouldn’t function. Just as it was about to wrap it hands around him. Someone came rushing down the wall.

Blood of the titan gushing on his face, he took notice of the cadet who killed it. It was Hinata. He was alright. So, does that mean he took the Colossal titan down? Questions kept rushing to his head. 

“ Kageyama!” Hinata screamed due to the commotion outside “ What are you doing?! You were about to get eaten! You can’t die yet!”

kageyama launched himself towards a titan behind Hinata. Hinata hadn’t taken notice of it while talking to Kageyama.

“ I would like to tell the same thing to you dumbass!!”  
“ Fine! We’re even!”  
“ What happened to the colossal titan?! Did you guys get it?!”  
“ NO! We were really close but it got away! It disappeared out of nowhere”  
“ I don’t quite get what your telling! I don’t understand how that happened either but tell me about it later! We have to buy some time!”  
“ I kno-“  
“ Cadets! Move to HQ right now!”  
There were interrupted by a garrison member.  
“ b-but the tita-”  
“ the garrison will take care of them! Move to HQ right now! Anyone who has made contact with the colossal titan is to submit a short report right away! Don’t die before that!”  
“ R-right! Yes sir!” the two sang in unison. They gave each other worried looks before charging towards HQ.

“ Say Kageyama, where were Yamaguchi and Tsukishima assigned to?”  
“ Huh? I don’t quite remember but its the two of them, they will be just fine”  
“ Yeah….” hinata said with a hint of uncertainty in his voice  
“ Dumbass just trust them! They trained hard with us! They will do just fine!”  
Hinata felt a small sense of regret dwelling inside him. Since when did he doubt his comrades and friends. They were all strong!  
“ You’re right Kageyama! I trust them! They’ll be just fine!”  
Kageyama gave him a reassuring smile, it was not time to smile but he had to stay strong.

“ Cadets from the 104th unit! You have all graduated and are equipped with our best gears! Here on you will be split in different groups with members from the Garrison! Climbing up the wall to save yourself, otherwise desertion will be considered as treason! You will be punished accordingly! Right here! Right now! Give your hearts!”

“ YES SIR!”

The atmosphere was heavy and the tension was intolerable. Soldiers crying and falling to their feet’s. Many where on the verge of giving up even before starting. 

“ Damn it! Why now?! Just another day and I would’ve moved to the interior!” Jean began, clearly frustrated and bummed out. 

A few resorted to violence to let out their fear and frustration. Hinata quickly moved closer to Kageyama who was also really disturbed by the site. It was like their world had lost colour. 

“ I don’t like this” Hinata began  
“ I know. Neither do I, we just have to put up with it”  
“ Has everyone given up already”  
“ All humanity has ever known is defeat. Its imprinted in their heads. They don’t believe that they can win.”  
“ But you never know!”  
“ We can’t do anything about it. Besides, as much as I hate it 70% of everyone over here is going to die.”  
Hinata stopped in his tracks, looking down as fear suddenly hitting him again.  
“ I-I do-“  
He felt Kgaeyama’s strong arm pressing down on his left shoulder, as he gave a small smile  
“ But the four of us aren’t part of that 70%”  
Hinata felt a small smile curling up on his face. Soon Kageyama’s face held a strong look of determination.  
“Let’s go! We can’t survive if we don’t fight! ”  
“ Yeah!”

As Hinata and Kageyama rushed towards the front lines they were stopped by two people.

“ Tsukishima? Yamaguchi?”  
“ The two of us heard that you were assigned to the front lines” Tsukishima began with visible look of distress. Both Kageyama and Hinata exchanged a look at each other  
“ Yeah. With a few other cadets”  
Tsukishima gave a distressed sigh, Yamaguchi quickly carried a look of severe anxiety. There was a minute of silence. Kageyama was the first to cut it off.  
“ If you have nothing to tell, we’ll be leaving now. The other cadets are waiting for us.”

Kageyama grabbed Hinata’s arm and started walking off. 

“ DON’T DIE ON US!” the voice took the two of them by surprise. It was Tsukishima, unlike the two boys, he hadn’t turned around to face the two of them. Hinata stood wide-eyed, staring at Tsukishima’s back. Kageyama who was also surprised gave a soft smile to himself, he quickly erased it though. Turning back to return to his original position.

“ The two of us don’t intend on dying today…. so you guys shouldn’t either” he then quickly stomped off with Hinata. It was brief but as the boys walked off in opposite directions the two of them gave their classic smug smile, a genuine understanding between the two of them. Yamaguchi and Hinata shared a look of confusion but smiled, letting each other go with a silent goodbye. 

“ Shoyō-kun!”  
There it was. One of the most annoying phrases and voices Kageyama knew. It was Atsumu. He genuinely felt irritated every time he saw Atsumu with Hinata. He let out a sigh  
“ Atsumu-san!” Hinata let out  
“ I heard that you were assigned to the front lines, the vanguard area” he said with a worried look on his face  
“ Yeah. What about you Atsumu-san?”“ I’m assigned to the rear with Kita, Suna and Samu”  
“ The rear might be dangerous”  
“ Yeah but not as dangerous as the front lines, stay safe okay?”  
“ Yeah! I wi-”  
“ I will be with him so, don’t worry about it Atsumu-san” Kageyama interrupted  
“ eh…. Is that so? Then please do so. Protect him with your life”  
The two of them had what seemed to be a staring contest.  
“ Uh… Kageyama? Atsumu-san? Is everything okay? Hello? I’ll be able to protect myself? Shall we start heading out?”  
Kageyama broke contact first, quickly turning around on the heel, he pulled Hinata by the collar of his uniform.  
“ Lets’s go, Hinata!”  
“ Uh…. Yeah! Right! Please be careful Atsumu-san!”  
Atsumu waved lightly  
“ Atsumu”  
“ Kita-san”  
“ Let’s move out. Worry about your life more”  
“ I will be fine Kita-san”  
“ Let’s hope so”

The two boys found themselves in the front lines, right behind the vanguard. From a tall building the amount of titans could be clearly seen. They were really big. They knew that but they were still so big.

“ Just to be clear, many want to join the Survey Corps this time around”  
“ You got the better of me earlier, but not anymore Eren”  
“ Is that so, Thomas?”  
“ Then let’s see who can kill more titans”  
“ Don’t pad your numberers, okay?”

Hinata and Kageyama could just stare. Were the underestimating titans? Or were the two of them overestimating them? If it was that simple why do so many people die? Before they could think and talk a loud order could be heard

“ Team 34 Advance!”  
That was their call. The eight of them launched themselves towards the vanguard. As they kept going forward, Hinata noticed something charging straight towards them. He was quick to grab Kageyama who also noticed this, the two of them successfully escaped the abnormal. However, they weren’t able to save Thomas who was right in the titans mouth. He was there, dangling head down, all of them were confused. Was he going to get eaten. Before anyone, including Thomas could react, the titans simply moved his head up swallowing Thomas whole. This was it. These were titans. it wasn’t so easy to defeat them.

They didn’t have time to act emotionally however, Eren stayed blind to this. Charging straight at the titan he got his libs eaten. Hinata and Kageyama could only watch their comrades be eaten in front of them. The two of them were skilled enough to kill a titan or two but their body would simply not move. They couldn’t save anyone. They might not even be able to save themselves. 

Once again on the verge of tears, hinata faced Kageyama who was equally shocked. His body screamt danger but he simply could not move. Move Kageyama, keep your promise, you have to at least protect yourself and Hinata. You made that promise. You aren’t going to die here, not without understanding anything.

He snapped out of it, just in time. He quickly grabbed Hinata who was staring at him. He could tell that Hinata was scared stiff, this boy cared about his comrades deeply. There was no way he was going to think straight. Kageyama had to think for him as well. 

Throwing Hinata over his shoulder, Kageyama launched himself on top of a taller building. He couldn’t climb a wall with no reason, that would be treason. For now he had to do his job. He quickly pressed both of hands against Hinata’s shoulders. The boy who was looking down this entire time finally looked up. He looked dead in the eyes. Kageyama had almost never seen him look worser.

“ Listen up Hinata, we couldn’t do anything about what just happened” he said in an attempt to calm Hinata down. He was just as terrified. His hand were shivering like crazy but he calmed himself down to his level best. He had to remain calm.

Hinata who was now facing Kageyama looked at him right in the eye

“ We were right there. We could have at least saved Eren and Mina… b-but w-we-”  
“ Hinata! Get yourself together! We have to survive! We promised!”  
That was Hinata’s wake up call. He was shook and scared but he promised Tsukishima, Yamaguchi and Atsumu. He told them that he’d be safe. That’s right. Natsu is waiting for me to return. He still had to go home, someone was waiting for him. He can’t die just yet.  
“ Thank you Kageyama. I’ve been out of it today.”  
“ That’s right dumbass! Don’t make it harder for me”  
“ I’ll thank you but I won’t lose! Next time I’ll save you!” 

It was merely a statement but to Kageyama it felt like a refreshing gust of wind. 

“ Let’s go!” the two sang in unison as the they launched themselves towards the titans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Guys!!! Happy New Year!!! It's 2021!! Sorry about the late post. I've been really busy lately, I'll try to post as soon as possible though! Please let me know if there are any mistakes or typos! Thanks for reading!


	5. Colourless

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the best experience, I recommend listening to AOT OST while reading this!

Shaking with fear, Tadashi tried to fill his ODM gear with Gas. This was it, their first encounter with titans. The Scouts weren’t here, it was just them, the scouts and the garrison. The military police was also skilled but those guys are cowards, they would never join the front lines. 

With the stress he was bottling up inside him, he couldn’t hear a distressed voice coming from the other side “ You there! Cadet! Fill this tank up!” , still shaking Yamaguchi continued to (unintentionally) ignore him. 

He then felt an arm on his shoulder. Before he could respond or turn around, the arm pulled him harshly. “ Are you listening?! I’m your superior! Want me to smack ya?!” Yamaguchi immediately jolted up. The wall being breached was already stressful enough for him, he couldn’t handle something like this.

Hands still shaking with fear, he took the empty gas tank from the distressed soldier. As he tried to fill the tank his hand slipped, making the gas tank leak. With tears welling up in his eyes, he knew what this meant. Slowly turning his head around, he was hesitant to look at the officers face. “ I-I’m s-so so-sorry. I’ll fill i-” he was cut of by the same but now an extremely pissed soldier “ You shit face! Do you realised what you’ve done?!” quickly bringing his hand up to punch yamaguchi in the face, he jolted, closed his eyes and braced for impact, only to feel nothing. 

“ H-huh?! Who do you think you are?! W-why are you looking at me like that.” After feeling nothing, Yamaguchi slowly opened one of his eyes, only to see his best friend standing there. “T-tsukki”. He had firmly caught the soldiers hand in place. Applying a little force on his hold, the soldier screamt in agony. “ I’ll fill your gas tank for you, please avoid using violence especially between subordinates…. sir” The last part which was completely sarcastic caught Yamaguchi off guard. The soldier was clearly pissed off however, there was nothing he could do about it. Scared of Tsukishima because of the difference in sizes, he ‘let’ Tsukishima off.

Taking the pipe and gas tank from Yamaguchi’s hand, he started fixing the chamber while filling the tank. He then passed the tank to the soldier who quickly scurried off. 

Yamaguchi who was sort of embarrassed, tried to look at Tsukishima( he horribly failed though), “T-tsuki I-” quickly cutting Yamaguchi off, Tsukishima began “ Hinata and Kageyama will be fine. As much as I hate to admit it, those two are strong. With the highness behind Hinata, he’ll make sure that Hinata won’t do anything reckless.” Tadashi who was almost surprised, tried to speak again, only to be cut off again. “ So don’t worry about them, and worry about yourself. All of us have to survive today….. not only today, we have to survive. I might not always be there to support you so, be cautious and fight” with that He quickly stood up and walked away. 

Yamaguchi could only stare at Tsukishima who seemed to be getting further and further away. Something parked inside of him. Some might call it hope, while some call it light whatever, it was, it was going to help him get through this. That’s right, he doesn’t need to worry about the two by the vanguard. They would never die. He had to focus and worry about himself. He was assigned as a temporary medic and was stationed at the gas chamber. All he had to do was save people, he didn’t have to face titans head on. That’s right, I don’t need to fight yet. I’ll save as much as I can! 

Hinata and Kageyama found themselves in a pinch. They were and are determined not to die, but this was too much for them to handle. Having killed several titans all by themselves, they thought that they could switch. However, the situation had changed. The two of them who were standing back-to-back found themselves surrounded by titans. All teams worked in a rotation, however, the rest of their team were dead.

“ Damn those cowards of the garrison!” Kageyama cursed under his breath. The tema that was supposed to take over, simply stared at them with fear in their eyes. Having found a safe spot, they weren’t willing to move. The titans were focused on the two of them, they could easily kill each of them. However, they were too scared to move a muscle. “ Are they just going to war for us to get eaten?!” Kageyama continued. 

Using the ODM gear was exhausting both mentally and physically. It caused a strain mentally, having to worry about position, swords, titans, posture, their gas tank, how they land, where they land, it was mentally excruciating. Not to forget that the two of them had battled for more than an hour. Both Hinata and Kageyama were at their limits. Yet, those follow of the garrison simply stared at them, waiting for them to get eaten. 

Turning his head around slightly, Kageyama checked on Hinata. Despite having monstrous stamina even he was tired, his eyes nearly closing out of exhaustion, Kageyama couldn’t beware to look at Hinata in this state. He looked nearly dead. He had to something, something to get them out of their current situation. He didn’t want to lose to Tsukishima, he told him that they’d be back alive. 

“ Say Kageyama….” Hinata began. Anxietly was just starting to hit Kageyama, he had to not only save himself, he had to save Hinata as well. He’d rather die than go back alone. He had tot remain calm, if he freaked out Hinata would as well.

“ Huh… what is it, dumbass, you must have a lot of energy if you’re able to talk to me” he spoke as to buy so time to think of something. The titans were strange, they simply stared at the two, none of them attacking. They almost looked like they were observing them. 

“ Are we going to die now?” Kageyama felt his breath stop. He obviously thought about that possibility however, it seemed so wrong coming out of Hinata’s mouth. From years ago, Despite being younger than Hinata, kageyama felt some amount of responsibility towards Hinata. It might have been because of his size or maybe his personality but it was still there. The thought of seeing Hinata being eaten, scared him, he didn’t want to witness it . 

“ Of course, not” he began “ I’ll think of something, so just don’t get eaten” 

he had no clue. He didn’t have any clue about anything anymore. They were surrounded by 5+ titans, there were no tall walls or building close to them, the cowards of the garrison were just staring, these titans could strike anytime now, there was no one to help, they were nearly out of gas, their blades were blunt and they were running out of both stamina and will power. Was this really how the two of them were going to die? 

“ It’s the scouts!” Someone in the crowd cheered. “ The hero’s are going out!” another continued “Slay those demons for me!” one continued, “ Look its Captain Levi! Some say he alone makes up for 100 soldiers!” 

“ tch. They couldn’t be more noisy” said the petite, black-haired man. “ Now, now just smile!” continued the mad scientist of the scouts, Hange Zoë. 

“ The scouts are so cool!” said the short, orange haired boy. “ Stop jumping up and down dumbass, you’ll get lost” Hinata who was now pouting turned towards Kageyama who was simply staring at him “I’m not a kid! I won’t get lost! Also you need to stop drinking so much milk! You seem more like a kid!” “ huuuh?! Shut it!” 

Looking at them from the back both Tsukishima and Yamaguchi sighed. “ What are they even talking about?” Tsukishima began, “ Dunno, but just listening to their conversation tires me out” said Yamaguchi while yawning. “ Their conversation makes me feel dumb, how can they ev-” Tsukishima was cut off by a loud sound from Hinata  
“ It’s the little giant!” he screamt. “ I want to become like him one day!” Clearly excited, he stood on his toes in order to see properly. “ You’re a hundred years too early to even compare to him” stepping down, the two of them again started their ‘fist fight’. To any bystander it looked like two, four years-old fighting.

Yamaguchi looked confused, “ The little giant?” he asked indirectly meant for Tsukishima to answer “ Captian Levi” he said without even sparing a glance. “Wait… Captain Levi is called the little giant?” 

“ Apparently he hates that nickname, but he can’t do anything about it. ”  
“ ehh…”  
“ Hinata began admiring after glacing at him once, he probably doesn’t even know his name though” Kageyama joined.  
“ You sound horribly jealous. Doesn’t your highness, have anyone he admires?” Tsukishima said with an obvious intent to mock him.  
“ HUhh?! Are you picking a fight with me you bean pole?!” the two of them quickly faced each other with the aim to punch each other  
“ Now, now let’s settle down” Yamaguchi said with a smile, this wasn’t the first time and most certainly wasn’t the last time he was going to stop their fights. It was basically part of his routine now.

huh? Why was he remembering this now? Was this what you call you life passing by your eyes? But this happened today morning. Kageyama felt everything drifting apart. It was as if his life had lost all colour

Just then, almost like a miracle, a ray of light appeared. Someone, a soldier, appeared out of nowhere. He swung his blades with all his might at huge titan in front of the two of them Blood splattering everywhere, he instantly killed it . To anyone it was simply a soldier helping others out. To Kageyama and Hinata, who had lost their will it was a blessing, it was a ray of light that would save them. A ray of light that would bring colours back to their world. Something refreshing. The two of them simply stared at him, almost in a daze. If it weren’t for hi they would be dea-

“ What are you doing spacing out?! Get away! Now!” With that the two of them were brought back to their senses. Quickly using the opening and chance, the two of them jumped of the house roof, attaching their ODM gear to one of the buildings, fleeing away from the hoard of titans. 

He did it again. If that soldier hadn’t snapped them out they would’ve gotten eaten. He not only saved them from getting eaten, he used his chance to lure the hoard of the titans away from the two of them and towards himself.

The two of them who were trembling with shock because of the sudden event could only run away not being able to thank him. 

“ That person” Hinata began “ He was from the Garrison wasn’t he?”  
“ Yeah… I saw the crest…. it was clearly printed on his jacket”  
“ But…. why would he? He wasn’t even assigned to the vanguard! I’m sure of it! I’ve never seen his face before!” clearly out of breath the two of them struggled to talk.  
“ I don’t understand either! But all we can do is thank him for now! To do that let’s at least get out of this alive! Climb up the wall!” Kageyama was also confused. The garrison were better than the military police, but they weren’t the best. The team that was supposed to back them up was a clear example of that. In the end, the only ones who could battle titans were the survey corps. The garrison were cowards as well. However, that person was different. He saved them, even though it could cost him, his life.

Throwing themselves up the wall, the two of them survived their part. Hinata who fell on his side, immediately laid down on the ground purely out of exhaustion. Kageyama who was standing, fell on his back, covering his eyes with one of his arms. They did it….. They didn’t die….. 

“ Tsumu” said the boy with greyish- black hair. “ huh? What is it Samu?” he asked sluggishly, he didn’t have the energy to deal with anything more right now.  
“ You’re friend is most likely to get eaten you know?” he said almost disinterested. “ Friend? Who are ya talkin about?”  
“ Hinata” he said disinterested yet once again. Don’t get him wrong he was also fond of Hinata, but he didn’t get attached to people the same way Atsumu did. 

“ Shoyō-kun? Nah, he’ll be fine. He’s strong” Atsumu was fond of Hinata for a reason, he was strong, he wouldn’t die so early no matter what. 

“ You guys need to start worrying about yourselves” the twins turned around to see their friend join them. His strong thin, cat-like-eyes made him stick out from a crowd.

“ Suna-Rin” Atsumu called out, he slowly and sluggishly made his way to them “ Are you done with your shift?” Atsumu continued “ Yup… I didn’t die” he said in the most dead-pan way possible. “with you’re skills, you won’t die so early.” Sparing a glance at his brother, he decided not to tell anything more. 

Looking around for a bit, he extended a question “ Where’s Kita-san?” 

“ He has his shift right now” Atsumu replied, funny thing that they called it a ‘shift’. Most people died during their ‘shift’ so, the term made absolutely no sense at all. Well to Atsumu it didn’t matter, to him all people that ‘suck’ were as good as dead. 

“ Samu, why are ya quiet all of a sudden?” he asked in a teasing tone. clearly communicating with their eyes, all Suna could do was stare at them dead in their eyes. “ I’m hungry” Osamu blurted out. Suna glanced at him once again before pulling something out of a bag in his hand. Handing Osamu a loaf of bread, he looked back. “ They’re handing out limited rations, you should eat whatever you find” he said, a small smile appearing of Osamu’s face, he thanked him and began eating. 

Atsumu who kepis glancing from the two of them whined “ Wait! What about me?! I’m hungry too” Osamu almost immediately blurted out “ Nothing for ya, Tsumu” without even hesitating Atsumu replied back “ Shut yer trap!”

Tsukishima found himself in the middle of the city. People were either running or grieving over their loved ones. As much as he wanted to save them all, he knew that he couldn’t. All he could do was hope that they’d get back to their senses. 

“ Mommy!” a voice cried. Tsukishima immediately turned around. He saw a little girl, judging by her height she could only be 6-7 years old. Her leg which seemed to be torn apart by a rock or flying debris. His instructions were to ignore those who couldn’t be saved, otherwise known as survival of the fittest. Under normal circumstances anyone would ignore the girl. With that leg, she was ‘useless’. Just as things couldn’t get worse for her, he noticed a titan, a 5-meter class one, heading straight for her. 

Going off route without hesitation, he rushed towards her. Landing right next to her, he placed his blade under the heavy rock and pushed it away from her leg, quickly pulling her out, he tried carrying her. It was clear to him that his superior officers would get angry at him for his actions. A girl with a torn leg would be deemed useless by the society. She could not possibly walk let alone work ever again. 

The girl’s injury made it hard for him to carry her. He had to stop the bleeding immediately, however, the titan was now rushing towards them. Tearing a coat which was over him, he quickly wrapped the cloth over her foot. He simply had to get to the gas chamber, Yamaguchi would most definitely save her. 

“ Mommy! Daddy!” she cried once again, her voice was filled with fear and agony. Tsukishima was never good with kids, especially of her age. Struggling up with her, he began “ I’ll take you to them! Where are th-” He stopped as he saw something under the rock. It seemed like a man and woman buried under it. How did he not notice? The girl was under the rock because all of them were trying to get away. There was no doubt that the man and woman compressed under the rock, were her parents. Swallowing, he picked her up. Her hands trembling, Tsukishima pulled her closer to him. And for the first time he felt his soul leave his body. The titan was right there, he wouldn’t make it out in time.

Just as everything seemed wrong, there was one person. One person who actually topped to save him and the girl. One soldier, right behind the Titan, he aimed and pierced through its neck, immediately killing the titan. Tsukishima could only stand in shock.

“ What are you doing?! Get moving! Get that girl to safety!” he snapped out of it. This guy from the garrison was clearly skilled. Any other superior would’ve asked him to abandon the girl. But this guy was different. He wanted to actually save her. Without wasting another second, he rushed towards the gas chambers. If anyone, Yamaguchi would definitely save her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I'm so sorry about the late chapter! A lot has been happening recently, I didn't have any inspiration to write, but I'm back! I'll continue updating. Yet once again, if there are any mistakes pls let me know, I'll change it immediately. Thank you so much for reading!


	6. The ray of hope

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I recommend listening to some epic OST while reading this!

“ Helping others again?” A fellow soldier asked 

“ It’s just my duty” The man replied, having saved a handful of cadets, his body was starting to get tired. But, now wasn’t the time to quit. He had to be there for them.

“ If this is your way of repenting stop” the soldier stated, turning his back on him, he faced the other way. “ You can’t change the past, what’s done is done” with that he launched himself mid-air

Clenching his fist, he gritted his teeth. He knew it, more than anyone he knew that he couldn’t change the past. 

“ Say Kageyama” the orange haired boy asked out of curiosity.

“ What is it?” he replied, fatigue had built up in their body, laying on the wall for a while might build up a little energy. In hopes of that the two rested for a while. 

“ Those guys from the Garrison” he began.

Kageyama clenched his jaw. Just remembering them irritated him. They were experienced soldiers, however, they were ready to let the two of them die. If it let them live they were okay with it. Hiding his frustration, he removed the hand that covering his eyes, looking up at the clouds and the evening sky, he relaxed himself. “ What about them?” he asked calmly 

“ Do we… you know…. um” clearly hesitant about skiing whatever he had in mind, Kageyama furrowed his brows and turned on his side to face Hinata. “ What is it? Come out and say it, dumbass” 

Sighing, Hinata who was staring at the sky gave up “ Should we like report them? Wasn’t that isolation or something? You know the thing that we weren’t supposed to do” 

Thinking about it as well, Kageyama faced the sky yet once again. “ I wonder….. We probably have to…. I mean, we’ll have to write a repot and stuff…”

“I….. I don’t want to” Hinata said hesitantly. Shooting himself up, Kageyama looked Hint. “What? Why not? They abandoned us, you know? They left us to die” 

“ I know that!” Hinata said as he shot himself up as well, facing Kageyama, he slowly looked down. “ I know that…. I don’t forgive them for that…. but you know… I was just as scared as them when I first saw that titan. If you weren’t there I would’ve gotten blown away by it …. They didn’t have anyone like you.. so, well you know.. I don’t blame them!” 

Kageyama widened his eyes for a moment. He did make a point, they were scared stiff. They probably couldn’t move their body even if they wanted to. So is their fault? Should they report them? Is it okay not to? Will it happen again? They might have family waiting for them? But they were going to die? Frustrated Kageyama ran his hands through his hair, completely destroying it. 

Shocked a little Hinata looked at Kageyama wide-eyed, this was one of the first times he had seen kageyama this frustrated. “ Kagey-” He was quickly distracted by something he saw in a distance. 

Standing up, he walked to the edge of the wall, looking closely Hinata didn’t talk for a a while. After a bit, he decided to speak up. “ Say Kageyama”. Still overthinking, Kageyama hastily turned and looked back at Hinata. “ Huh?! What now, dumbass?!” Quickly grasping the air, he calmed down and stood up as well.

“ What are you looking at?” he asked in order to see what Hinata was seeing. Looking at the direction he was looking Kageyama saw a bunch of cadets grouped in one area. 

“ When we were resting…. didn’t a few superiors from the Garrison pass by us?” Hinata asked still looking far away. 

“ Huh? Yeah… I mean I think they were from the gas cham…b…er…s….” quickly understanding the situation, the two of them turned towards each other. 

“ Wait by any chance….” Quickly turning towards the building that was established as the HQ, Kageyama stood there, eyes widened. There were several Titans, ranging from 5-9 meter class, surrounding and climbing up the building. 

“ Isn’t that buildin-

“ Yamaguchi” Tsukishima told almost by reflex. Something about the whole situation made him anxious. He had two kids in his arms, pulling them up, he launched himself mid-air. He had managed to save many without getting killed. Several of them being kids…. The two kids he was carrying almost reminded him of his past. 

‘So, this is how you felt Akiteru-nee.’ 

After covering a good amount of distance, he put the kids down. Putting his palm on the shoulders. He looked the two boys in their eyes. Tears were rolling down their faces and they were trembling. He knew that they were really scared but he couldn’t afford the time or gas to take them all the way over the wall. 

“ Listen… the two of you will be fine. I’ll make sure to not let any titans come your way. I want you to run… run as fast as you can. There will be a lot of people up ahead…. they will save you. You won’t die, no matter what” 

Still trembling they boys managed to nod their heads before hesitantly running away. Tsukishima stood up. It was almost like some kind of sixth sense. He felt like something wrong was happening. Not to him but to Yamaguchi. Climbing up a house roof, he could almost feel his gas tank empty. “Damn. I wasted a lot of gas” he cursed under his breath. He hadn’t been on the battle field for long, but, he was already running out of gas. 

Travelling a good amount of distance, he saw a handful of cadets clustered together. Changing his course of direction he moved towards them. Landing of one of the roof, he spoke to the first person he recognised.

“ Reiner.” 

“ Tsukishima” he said astound. “ So, you’re okay; that’s a relief.” 

“ What’s happening? Why is everyone sitting over here?” the tension in the air made him sick, it was awful. The evening sky was covered by grey, stormy clouds. The tension and atmosphere was thick and heavy making him incredibly uncomfortable.

“ Everyone’s out of gas…. we probably can’t make it up the wall alive” Bertholdt replied. “ Even if you can’t make it over the wall, most of you’ll be able to make it to HQ. You can fill you’re gas there.”

Everyone who was facing looked away, hesitantly. Widening his eyes for a moment he furrowed his brows and looked at them, demanding answers. 

Annine who had a sweat drop going down her face, finally looked at him in the eyes. “ Calm down and turn around, I don’t think you want to go there”

His breathe shuddering, he hesitantly and quickly turned around. Nothing will be wrong, it will be the usual HQ. Yamaguchi would be safe and sound in there.

Tsukishima felt his heart drop. He could feel his body temperature rise, he clenched his jaw as his mouth went dry. His body was starting to feel the fatigue from before. Staring dead at the HQ which was supposed to normal, he felt sweat fall from his face. It was as if time had stopped, he couldn’t hear all the noise from outside. All he could hear was his breathe and his heart.

The HQ which was supposed to be untouched, was covered with titans. Several small ones seemed to have gone inside as well. He lost energy in his legs and he fell on his knees. Everything was so quiet to him. All the cries and screams of the outside world didn’t seem to reach him. All he could see was Yamaguchi. Everything else was blank to him.

“ Yamaguchi!” Tsukishima said as rushed into the medical room. There stood Yamaguchi, he had his hair tied into a short pony which was hanging at the back of his head. Gloves covering his hand, he had some blood smeared on his jacket from treating patients. 

“ Tsukki?” Looking at the girl in his hands, Yamaguchi gasped, she was severely injured. Her leg seemed to have been torn off by some object, her face pale, almost blue; she was profusely sweating. “ That girl…” he asked hesitantly. “ I know that it’s going to be hard but can you save this girl?” he asked, Yamaguchi had almost never seen him so desperate. Forgetting his fear, he took the girl from Tsukishima and layer her down. “I’ll look at what I can do. I’m not going to guarantee anything though” he said. 

Sitting down next to the girl, Tsukishima sat down parallel to Yamaguchi. Staring at the little girl as Yamaguchi tried to save her, Tsukishima smiled a little. Yamaguchi had grown. He wasn’t a little child anymore, he could fight his own battles. It might not be in the front lines but he can save soldiers who are fighting for their lives. 

“ Thank you….” Yamaguchi looked up at Tsukishima, who didn’t look at him.

“ Tsukki?” he asked slightly confused 

“ Thank you…. I brought you this girl in a whim. I know that what I’m asking for is the near impossible. it really reckless. But…. I believe that you can save her”

Eyes widening a little, Yamaguchi gave a small smile. “ This is just my job…. I can’t fight. I’m almost powerless when it comes to that. Especially with people like Hinata and Kageyama, I don’t stand a chance. But….” He took a syringe and bottle, injecting the girl with the medicine, he concentrated on the girl. “ But, I can fight in my own way. I can save people with my own way”

Tsukishima gave a warm smile at Yamaguchi who wasn’t looking at him. Standing up, he tightened his gear. 

“ Tsukki?” Yamaguchi asked as he looked up at Tsukishima 

“ Do your best to save her. I’m sure you can. While you fight, I can’t just sit around. So I’m going as well” frowning a little, Yamaguchi knew that he had to go.

“ Then go ahead…. do you best! Let’s meet again after all this is done!” Yamaguchi said trying to sound strong.

“ Yeah…. let’s do that” he said as he left.

“ Wait… we were supposed to meet after this… Please tell me you’re not there…. tell me that you’re safe and sound…….Yamaguchi”

“ Isn’t that the building where Yamaguchi was stationed?” Kageyama said to himself

Grabbing onto Kageyama’s jacket , Hinata pulled Kageyama to face the cadets sitting on roof’s “Those guys, their out of gas….. that’s why their sitting there.” Quickly turning towards Kageyama, Hinata began “ We should get som-” 

“ Not possible” Quick to cut Hinata off, Kageyama stared at him. Hinata flinched a little. “ Wait… why not?! They need help! At this rate they’ll be eaten!”

“ Calm down and look at HQ” Quickly turning around Hinata felt his soul leave his body. 

“ Even if we had a whole squad, there is no way we’ll be able to take down those many titans….. I hate to break it to you but the only thing we can do now, is get some help….. I doubt they will though…” 

“ Are you telling me that we have to leave them to die?!” Kageyama looked reluctant. “ I don’t want to either…. but we can’t go there…. we’ll only be eaten…” 

“ I…..” Kageyama had a point. Hinata knew that he did. But was there really nothing they could do? Were they just going to leave them to die? Hinata clenched his fist, tears were threatening to go down his face. He felt so powerless, it felt horrible. 

That’s right… This is the real world. Titans overpowered humans and humans live under the fear of them. But was that really it? Was humankind going to go down without a fight. Hinata didn’t think so. Surely he was weaker than titans. If he was alone they would most certainly kill him. If h was alone. But he wasn’t alone. He had someone. He had Kageyama. 

Making up his mind, he faced Kageyama. “ Kageyama!” flinching as his loud voice, kagyama faced him. “ I…. I’m not going to do it! I’m not going to abandon them! If I do that….. If I do that then we’ll be the same… we’ll be the same as that team from the Garrison! That team that left us to die! So…. So lend me your strength!”

Kageyama stood there shook, since when did Hinata grow so strong. Closing his eyes, he gave a small smile. There was no going back now, he knew Hinata better than anyone, this boy wasn’t going to quit. 

I can’t believe I’m doing this. “ Sure… Let’s see what you’re made of”. Damn they were going to die. Sighing, he couldn’t stop grinning, they were either going to become heroes or titan food. 

“ How much gas do you have left?” Kageyama asked, tapping his Gas tank, Kageyama checked. “I don’t have a lot”

Tapping and checking his as well, Hinata replied “ Not a lot, I can probably make it in and out of HQ though” Sighing, Kageyama looked around “ Okay, we need a plan”

“ Right! A plan!” The two of them looked at each other. It was almost like telepathy “ We should probably give up” Kagyama said. “ No, we can’t! I know that we can’t come up with anything! But maybe we could swoosh ourselves into the chamber! 

“You idiot!” he said as he punched hinata in the head. “ Ow!” Hinata screamed in pain , Kageyama sighed and closed is eyes before reopening them.  
“ There is no way we can do that, dumbass. We’ll be eaten immediately. And looking at it, the inside of that place is probably crawling with 2-3 meter titans.”

holding his head with his hands because of the pain, Hinata opened one eye and looked at him “Wait so you mean…”

“ Yeah…. even if we manage to get in…… somehow, it’s certain death once we’re in there.” Kageyama didn’t understand everything himself, he wasn’t any skater than Hinata but he did have sense of his surroundings. He had the basic idea of everything .  
“ So wait?! What do we do?! We can’t just leave them there…. it’s only a matter of time before a titan comes grabbing at them!” Hinata said slightly panicking from the situation. For all he knows, all his friends are there, he didn’t want them to die.

“ Calm down….. All we can do right now is get someone to help us.” Kageyama responded . Truth to be told, he was also panicking. They weren’t just Hinata’s friends. Sure, he didn’t really speak to them but if you eat, train and sleep under the same roof with the same people, they grow on you. “Let’s go check on a few garrison members…. for all I know the Garrison Captain guy ran away with his crew. He might’ve made a lame excuse and ran away to the interior.” That’s right. He saw the captain flee, at the end of the day all they care about is their own lives. 

“ Then?” Hinata asked reluctantly. Time wasn’t their ally, it wasn’t going to stop for them. It was precious. While they are chattering away, there might be a titan rushing towards their comrades. But they weren’t going to run away, they were tired of losing people. They already regretted not saving Eren, Armin, Thomas and everyone on their temporary squad. They have to at least save the rest of them.

“ Not everyone in the Garrison are cowards…” Kageyama said quietly but loud enough for Hinata to hear .

“ Huh?” 

“ let’s not forget that one guy. That guy that saved us from that group of titans before.” Hinata’s face lit up. It was a fact that probably no one but the survey corps could fight the titans. While the Garrision were cowards. There are guys like that one person. If they could find someone like him or even better if they could find him.

“ Let’s hea-“ even before Kageyama could finish himself, Hinata sprinted towards the other captain across the wall. He was pretty far but with Hinata’s speed he could probably catch up to him quickly. “ Wait u- Hinata, I’ll punch you!” With that Kageyama also sprinted in order to catch up to him. 

The two somehow made it to the other teams, they were all gathered in one place. Catching their breathe, Hinata struggled to talk. 

“ Cade- They’re… we nee- HQ…. Titan-” All, the other Garrison members could do was stare astound. 

“ Wait up!” Kageyama said as he pushed Hinata out of the way. 

Putting his hand over his heart in a respectful way, he looked at his seniors. “ I’m Kageyama Tobio from the 104th trainee squad. I’m here to put out a request which needs immediate action, permission to do so” 

“ 104th Trainee squad? Wait so, you guys are alive?” with that both Kageyama and Hinata exchanged a glance at each other before turning towards the other Garrison members.

“ I’m sorry?” Kageyama said in confusion 

“ Ah… never mind, I thought all of you died…. I mean didn’t many of you run out of gas? I remember seeing a bunch of cadets sitting on roof’s.”

All the two could do was stare at them. These guys knew? If they, did why haven’t they done anything yet? With their numbers, intellect and resources they should easily be able to think of something. 

“ Um… That’s what we wanted to talk about! We wanted to save the other cade-”

“ Rejected” without hesitation the team captain replied. Hinata and Kageyama stood wide-eyed, they exchanged another look before snapping.

“ They’re our comrades! We have to save them! Please! At this rate, all of them will be eaten! We need your intellect and res-”

“ Rejected” 

“ But why?! All we want to do is save our friends!” Kageyama screamed, all Hinata could do was stare at them. 

“ We can’t spend our time and resources on a bunch of cadets who are going to end up as titans food. You should leave. Be happy that you’re alive and leave while you can” 

With that the entire squad of Garrison members left. They didn’t even hesitate or think about it once. In the end all humans think about are themselves. They might have said what they said but all they were doing was saving themselves. Hinata found himself on his knees, his hands held out desperately. No words came out of his mouth but Kageyama knew exactly what he was thinking. 

“ P-pl-please… my fri-comra-cadet… tita- kill” Kageyama knelt on the ground next to Hinata, who was hopelessly looking for words and put his hand over his arm which was held out desperately. 

“W-we’ve done everything, we can…. I’m sorry” Kageyama said his voice breaking in the end. They couldn’t do anything more. This was a dead end for them. 

“ K-Kageyama….. They’re leaving… we have to catch up… our pla-”

“ There is no plan! We’ve done everything we can….. Snap out of it! I’m so…. so sor-”

“ You guys….” the two turned around. They felt colour return. It was him. “ You’re cadets right?” It was that soldier. “ I’d…. I’d like to help if I can….. I want to help you save your comrades” It was the soldier that was their ray of light list time. The soldier that helped them from death. He was here again. 

Putting his hand out, he took Kageyama’s hand and pulled him up, soon after which he pulled Hinata up. His hands were rough probably from training but they contained a lot of care, compassion and a certain amount of gentleness.

“ You are?” The soldier asked with a gentle and kind smile.

Still in a daze, Hinata replied. “ I’m Hinata and this is Kageyama. We’re from the 104th trainee corps.” 

“ I see, it’s nice to meet you guys…. I’m Sugawara Koushi”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! This has got to be the most time consuming chapter so far. I hope you guys enjoy it! Did anyone guess the brave Garrison member right? Like always pls tell me if I've made any mistake. Thank you so much for reading!


	7. Plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I recommend listening to some epic anime OST while reading this!

“ I see, it’s nice to meet you guys…. I’m Sugawara Koushi”  
Sugawara wasn’t what they expected at all. What they expected was a strong willed, confident, aggressive and well-built man. But, he was certainly not they were expecting.

The man who had introduced himself as Sugawara Koushi, had (slightly) long silver hair which was brushed to the side and a beauty mark under his under his left eye. He seemed rather timid. 

“ Um…I-” Kageyama began, he wasn’t sure what to tell. “ Why… Why would you help us” he said out of reflex, Hinata who had a smile on his face turned wide-eyed towards Kageyama. Why would he ask such a dumb question? Sugawara also looked at him wide-eyed for a minute.  
Quickly realising what he said, he covered his mouth for a quick second before correcting himself “ Uh! Please let me rephrase myself! I really appreciate your help, if you’re willing to help us, but isn’t our request basically asking for suicide? Why would you help us despite that?”

Looking down at the ground and remaining in silence for a minute. He looked up at the two of them, he had a warm smile on his face. A smile that made them feel reassured. A smile that made them feel comforted. 

“ Your friends that you have lived and trained with for years are down there right? If I were in your shoes, I’d want to save them as well, it’s only natural.. besides..” he paused for a bit, looking down again. He clenched his fists, Kageyama was quick to notice it. There were signs of distress all over his body, Hinata however, was too overwhelmed to notice anything.  
“ Besides… those cadets just graduated… it’s only right for us, seniors to look after them. I mean, they are the future. Without them we’d be trapped here forever.” Looking up at the sky, Sugawara closed and opened his eyes, a look of determination in it. He gave them a smile 

“ Kageyama and Hinata was it?” the two of them were surprised by his sudden transformation. It was almost like he went from a cat to a lion. “ Okay, I’d say that we need a plan, but it’s only the three of us. To be honest, with just the three of us, this is practically suicide. Are you still willing to do?” 

Looking at each other once, they smiled, nodding their heads. Turning towards Sugawara who was ahead of them, they looked at him straight in the eye. “Of course, we are!” they said in unison.

Smiling at the two of them, Sugawara spoke again “ That’s nice. I like the look in your eyes. I’d like to say that I have a plan but it’s just the three of us. We might have to go plan less. Unless…” looking hesitant again, he bit his lower lip in distress. “ There is one plan….”

“What is it Sugawara….. Corporal…Captain.… Sugawara-san!” Hinata screamt.  
Kageyama already knowing what the “plan” was, sighed, there is no way anyone would approve of a reckless plan like that. 

Finally making up his mind, he placed his hands on his hips “ I’ll play decoy on my own, I want the two of you break into the area with the least titans. There should be more cadets there, I’m sure that you’ll all be fine.”

Eyes widening in shock, Hinata was at loss of words. Kageyama sighed. Now this is what people call suicide. There was no way to get out of something like this alive. He could probably kill the maximum of say, 4-5 titans at once, but HQ and the surrounding areas had more than that. There was no doubt that he was also running out of fuel. He might as well, fall into a titans mouth. If they went forward with this plan, there might be a future for the cadets inside but there will be no future for him. 

“ We cannot possibly approve of something like that Sugawara-san” Kageyama was quick to say. “There are a lot of faults with this plan to begin with, we cannot afford to lose another soldier for absolutely no reason. You saved us once, we will not let you lose your life as thanks” 

Hinata was no in shock about the number of words Kageyama spoke. It had be a record. And he actually made sense. Shrugging that off, Hinata faced Sugawara yet once again. “ He’s right Sugawara-san! I don’t want you to die either!” 

Sugawara looked shocked. His eyes were wide and mouth partially open. He then closed his eyes and gave them another smile. 

His predication was right. Hinata was sure that Sugawara wasn’t human. He had to be an angel of some sort. “ Thank you, the two of you… I really appreciate it…but we have no other choice… its just the three of us”

“BUT-”

“ If numbers are a problem then just add some more.” Kageyama was cut off by a voice behind Sugawara. 

Flinching a little by the sudden voice the three of them, followed the voice. Standing there wide-eyed, Kageyama was shocked to see the owner of the voice. 

“ Now there are 7 of us in total.” 

The voice belonged to none other than Atsumu Miya. Standing there with him were Osamu, Kita and Suna. Juts by the look in Kita’s face, they could tell that he wasn’t too enthusiastic about the operation. 

“ Just like Kageyama stated the plan has too many faults, it’s going to be a waste of time and manpower to go ahead with something like that” Kita added

“ You guys…” Kageyama began, only to be interrupted by Hinata loud and shrill voice “ Atsumu-san!”  
“ Shoyo-kun!” he “greeted”, no matter how many times he sees this Kageyama could never get used to it. It became more and more annoying to him.  
“ Osamu-san! Suna-san! Kiat-san! You’re all alright! I’m so glad!” Hinata continued. They all gave out soft smiles. None of them could disagree about the fact that Hinata was one of the most plesant people to be around. He gave out energy, it was what they needed right now. Even the expressionless Kita and Suna smiled. 

Sugawara stood there, confused. Just as Osamu noticed, he spoke “ We are fellow cadets from the 104th trainee corps. I hope that we can work well together” 

Snapping out of it, Sugawara replied “ I see… It’s nice to meet you…uh… I didn’t get your name” 

“ Osamu… I’m Osamu Miya, that’s my twin brother Atsumu, followed by Kita-san and finally Suna… Suna Rintarou” 

“I see… so, you guys came out alive” Nodding to Sugwara’s statement, their conversation was cut short due to Kageyama speaking… basically announcing

“ Time’s running out, we don’t have time for greetings yet.” That’s right. They had to come up with a plan and rescue them quickly. Before it’s too late. 

“ Alright, to begin with, the first plan is full of faults. Let’s begin with the fact that we don’t even know if the titans will be drawn to you. Second of all, we don’t even know if the cadets inside are alive.” With this Kageyama and Hinata flinched a little, looking at each other. Yamaguchi was in there, he had to be alive right? “ Third of all, we cadets don’t know the interior of HQ at all, Sugawara-san, you will have to go inside regardless.” Kita was quick to analyse and come up with faults. 

Taking a quick look at HQ once, Kita inspected the area for a bit. “ Even with the seven of us, it will still be hard to come up with a ‘full-proof’ plan. We need more people, but that’s asking for too much given the current state. We will have to go with the decoy plan but, let’s have more than one decoy. Sugawara-san will not be amongst those three.” Sugawara looked extremely hesitant, almost like he didn’t want anyone other than him to play decoy. 

“ Alright! That works!” Hinata began, looking at Kita carefully(almost glaring), Kageyama was sort of aware about what was going to happen. “ Say, Kita-san, who are these three decoys going to be?” 

The place went quiet, tension surrounding the are, the two of them were practically having a staring match. “ I’d suggest Hinata, Kageyama and Suna”

Just as he had anticipated, it would make complete sense for him to ask the three of them to go. He wants to guarantee the safety of him and the Miya twins. To do this, he’d take Sugawara, the one with the most experience with him. Then he’d leave the three of them with the risky job. But Kageyama had to admit that he was partially surprised. He thought that Kita would suggesthaving 2 decoys. The two of them being Hinata and Kageyama. So, as much as Kita cared about Suna, he didn’t really value his life as much as he did for the Miya twins. However, this plan wasn’t going to work out.

This minute Kita mentioned Suna, Osamu looked reluctant. It would be hard to convince him to let this plan be. On the other hand, Atsumu looked reluctant about leaving Hinata to be. So, what would it be? What are you going to do, Miya-san? Are you going to leave them be? Are you going to let them do the most dangerous job? Now choose! Is it going to be your safety or theirs?!

“ Wait a minute…” Kageyama smiled to himself, it was just as he expected. The one who spoke was Osamu. Osamu and Suna had a really close relationship. He didn’t know how they worked but they did. Heck, he didn’t even know if what they had between each other was “friendship”. He didn’t know what kind of relationship they had with each other. However, he was certain that Osamu wouldn’t let him die. Atsumu doesn’t usually go against Kita, so he might just let it be but Osamu was different. He would most definitely do something. 

“ I suggest, making me, Tsumu and Hinata the decoy” Kageyama’s face fell… wait… hold up… this wasn’t how it was supposed to go… based on his calculations it should have been him, Atsumu and Osamu. Why is he making Hinata decoy? Wasn’t he close to Hinata? There was no way that he had any regard for Kageyama’s life so, why let him go inside? 

Kita gave him a look before sighing, “ Why do you think we should do that?” he asked rather calm tone. Osamu was most definitely hesitant about going against Kita who was rather scary. “ Tsumu and I work well as a team and well… Hinata makes a really good decoy. Not to forget that Hinata and Atsumu work well together. It just makes sense for it to be that way” Kita simply looked at him dead in the eye, sighing yet again, he turned towards Sugawara. “ What do you think Sugawara-san?” 

“huh? I.. well..uh-” Sugawara was spaced out mid way. Too much was going on.

“ I think we should do it!” Hinata said, everyone looked at him once. “ Osamu-san makes a lot of sense. The three of us should be perfect as decoy’s. If you all can save the rest in time it works out perfectly!”

Atumu glanced at Hinata, Kita and finally Osamu. Sighing and ruffling his hair out of frustration, he finally agreed as well. A small smile settling on Osamu’s face, he was satisfied. Now, he didn’t have to come back to an eaten Suna. However, he peace was taken as Atsumu lauched himself on to Osamu to attack. Obviously everyone else tried to stop another one of their brotherly fights. “Ya’ reckless Samu!” he yelled before continuing his attack. Both Kita and Suna watched from the side lines.

Sugawara didn’t know how to react, to him he felt his superior authority being taken away from younger cadets. But… he didn’t hate it. To him he could see his team in them . Well his ex team. The team that fell apart. The team that fell apart all thanks to him. 

Everyone was okay with it, everyone leaving one person. He was standing by the side lines watching the twins fight. Osamu didn’t have to take his place. He was okay with playing decoy. He was certain that if something happened to Osamu he would blame it on himself. Osamu is most definitely stronger than him, it makes sense to take the strong inside, to keep them safe until their strength is really needed. A decoy could simply die, that might be what their duty is. The strong win and live, the weak lose and die. That’s how it is. So, why? 

He had made up his mind, he was not going to let anyone die. Not over here, not on his watch. 

“ Everyone! We should head out. Kita and I will handle the team going inside. Osamu-san I’ll let you handle the other. The east-side has a lighter amount of titans. The four of us will go from high window in the east side. I’ll leave the other sides to the three of you. Does that work?”

Everyone glanced at each other before agreeing in unison. “Yes,sir!”

With that all of them ran towards HQ which was on the other side of the wall. Sprinting with all their might, they were going to start this operation. They were going to save everyone. 

As they were running, Kageyama glanced at Hinata who was running beside him, right now Hinata was standing beside him, but in sometime he won’t be there anymore. They both will be doing their own things. Kageyama will be rescuing, Hinata would be putting his life on the line to buy some time. Decoy’s couldn’t possibly run away, they might be needed for backup. So he had to hang in there until they had finished everything. 

“ Hinata..” he said with thinking.

“ Huh? What is it?” Hinata replied, soon realising that he said that out loud, he decided to tell him everything he had in mind. He didn’t want to regret not telling anything.

“ You better not die, dumbass…”

“ I won’t! I’m not going to lose to you Kageyama!” looking at Hinata rather confused, Hinata noticed his expression and smiled “ You’re not going to die so, I’m not going to lose to you! I’m going to live whether you like it or not!”

Smiling, that’s right, this was Hinata that they were talking about. He wouldn’t die so easily. “ You better not, dumbass. I’m going to win otherwise” smiling at each other. The two of them had the same wish. A wish that would prolong.

In the same place and same time, two others followed in silence. The two of them were usually quiet but today it was forced. Osamu and Suna ran by each other but didn’t utter a word. Atsumu had noticed their odd behaviour and had ran up front to Kita, to give them some time. After all, this might be the last time they actually talked to each other. However, his sacrifice of time with his brother was returned with silence. He had given Suna the time that he wanted to spend with Osamu, Suna better spend it wisely.

Suna didn’t know what to do. He was confused. Should he thank Osamu? Or should he ask him to be careful? Should he start tal-

“ The inside of HQ’s going to be really dangerous as well ya’know? Will you be okay?” Osamu began. Osamu knew damn well that he’d be just fine but he had to do something. The silence was unbearable. Suna was grateful that Osamu spoke first, If he had to do it, it would probably take forever. “ I’ll be fine….after all I’m not playing decoy…’ Well Suna, congrats on messing up! He shouldn’t have brought up the decoy topic but he realised it when it was too late.

Now it was silent and awkward. Osamu looked down, he didn’t know how to continue their conversation. He wasn’t oblivious. He knew exactly what Atsumu was doing. Suna might not have realised it but he did. He did and he didn’t want to waste the time his brother sacrificed. Looking around to spot something to talk about, Osamu was desperate for a topic. 

They were getting close, HQ was just a little further from where they were. Suna felt his eyes darken, if something were to happen to Osamu he would most definitely regret it. He wanted to talk but didn’t know what to tell. They were running out of time. This might be the last time he would ever see Osamu. 

: “ Listen up everyone!” Sugawara began, not losing any speed “ Today’s marked as one of the darkest days humanity has ever faced! Wall Rose was breached. Hundreds have died already!” Everyone’s face fell, it was all true, Kageyama and Hinata had seen their friends die in front of them. It was all so true, they had accepted it but it hurt so much. “ But! That just means that we can’t let anymore die! Today, right now, we will save all the other cadets! Keep casualties to the minimum and don’t make any risky moves! You are needed! So! Surrender your hearts too humanity! 

“Yes, Sir!” the all scream in unison.

Suna felt his eyes widen. Biting his lower lip, he was absolutely desperate and confused. It was time. Running even faster to catch up to Osamu who had run further up ahead, he tugged on Osamu’s jacket. 

Taken back by the sudden force, Osamu stopped running and looked at Suna, who wasn’t willing to look at him in the eye. He settled for looking at the ground. 

“Suna-”  
“ Please!”  
Taken aback by him raising his voice, Osamu could just stare wide-eyed. It was the first time he had heard Suna raising his voice. Looking up at Osamu for a second, he quickly looked down again. Biting his lower lip again, he seemed to be holding tears in.

“ Please…. Just don’t die…… Promise that you won’t die…”

Osamu just stared and stared. It was clear that Suna was desperate. The pressure and stress must have been getting to him after all this time. Osamu gave him a gentle smile as he placed his hand over Suna’s head(Yes, Osamu is taller than Suna in this ). 

“ I promise..”  
Without looking up, Suna smiled to himself. He felt reassured. 

“ So, don’t die on me either okay?” 

Finally looking at him in the eye, Suna nodded. A small smile plastered on his face. Getting lost in the moment, Osamu was ready to risk it all

“ Suna, I have something to tell you, I-”

“ Samu! Whatcha doin?! We don’t have time ya’know!” Felling his nerves perk up, Osamu covered his anger with a smile. If titans wouldn’t kill Atsumu, he would do it himself.

“ Osamu?”

Snapping out of it, he looked at Suna who spoke. That’s when it hit him. Huh? What was he just going to tell? Wait…. He was confused. He was simply caught up in the moment. Was he? Is he? No, that’s not allowed.

With a moment of frustration , he looked at Suna again before replying with a simple ‘it’s nothing’. Suna saw the strain in his face but decided to ignore it. At least now he could go on with the operation without any regret.

with that Sugawara gave the signal. The signal flare seemed louder than they had remembered it, the green signal meant for them. It had begun, that was it. The signal to begin the operation.

All they could do was sit there. Sit there and await their deaths. I mean it made sense. Humanity had no place to go anymore. Shiganshina was destroyed, Wall Maria was breached, these horrific incident was soon followed by the breaching of Wall Rose. They were literally house less now. Wall Sina, the innermost wall, was now the outermost wall. The area was smaller, there is no way they’d have enough food rations for everyone, let alone shelter. There was no way humanity could be contained within those walls. If titans didn’t end up killing them, humans would end up killing each other.

Yeah, that’s right. That’s how low humans are. They will do anything for their survival. That’s how low they were, they just had a live example of that. Superior officers abandoning their duties and leading cadets to their deaths. That’s what just happened. In the end everyone just wants to save themselves. All Tsukishima could do was sit and wait. Even while awaiting his death, he could only wish for his friends to be okay. He didn’t know anything. Had Yamaguchi escaped? What about Hinata and Kageyama? Were they okay? Was anyone dead? Was Yamaguchi inside HQ? Was he going to be the first to die?  
“Our unit..The 34th Cadet unit…. Thomas Wagner, Mina Carolina, Nic Tius, Hinata Shoyo, Kageyama Tobio, Eren Yeager. All of them have fulfilled their duty and died heroic deaths in battle!” Armin screamt with pure agony in his voice.

There’s no way…… he must have heard wrong…… Misconception? Did he it his head?... He had heard it wrong right? Hinata? Kageyama? Dead? No… no way….. they had promised to come back alive…. It was all a lie…. They’re alive… they’re alive and over the wall. They’re there with Yamaguchi….. that’s right Tsukishima….. they’re alright.

Covering his ears from anything listening any further, he tried to convince himelf that he had simply heard wrong… or that Armin had misunderstood. They were strong, they wouldn’t die that easily. 

Standing up, he realised something

He had to accept reality. He was the rational mind in between three other nitwits. He had to be calm and rational. Despite being calm he didn’t feel anything. He simply considered it as the state of shock and probably denial. The actually pain would only strike in some time, if he made it alive until then. 

No, he would make it alive. He was smart. He was the brains. He had to think of some way to get out of this alive. But at the same time he had to go look for Yamaguchi. His gas was nearly over, stamina levels were extremely low, He had two blunt blades, his mental state was a mess that being said. The possibility of everything working out extremely low, but he had to try-

“ Tsukishima, if we take out the titans around HQ, then we can replenish our gas supplies and climb up the wall. Does that sound correct?” 

Turning towards the voice, he noticed Mikasa. Was it a reckless plan? Yes. Possibility of actually succeeding? 2% max. Possiblity of them all getting eaten on the way there? 98% min. But it was clear to him. Mikasa wasn’t thinking straight. Her only “family” was taken away from her early, her only reason to live was gone. Generally he would’ve declined the plan right away. However, they didn’t have time to be sane. Making an actual plan right now was basically buying time for titans to come eat them. 

“ Mikasa, even with you here that’s way to much! We can’t possible defe-” Marco was quickly cut of by Mikasa.

“ We can do it.” There it was, Mikasa’s dead eyes. She probably doesn’t care about the ourtcome of this battle. She was ready to die. No, that’s probably her objective. 

“ I am strong, stronger than all of you. Extremely strong. I can kill all those titans there…. Even if I’m alone.” Her statement was concluded with silence. Everyone was scared. Raising up her blade to the sky, she was ready to risk it all.

“ You’re either incompetent or you’re spineless cowards. How pathetic. You can sit here and suck you’re finger. Yeah, do that” It was official, she had lost it. It might not have been clear to everyone else, but to Armin and Tsukishima who actually knew her, it was pretty noticeable.

“ Hey Mikasa! What are you saying?!” a fellow female cadet yelled  
“ Yeah! Are you in your right mind?!”  
“ There’s no way you can take those titans on your own!”  
“ Tsukishima! Knock some sense into her!” Reckless, truly reckless. A mission formed from emotional distress. 

As much as he hated the idea of it, he had to ditch his ability of “rational thinking”

Sighing, he walked towards her, everyone staring right at him.  
“ Just as she said”

There was complete silence. It was probably shocking for everyone, even Tsukishima was shocked by himself. But, he had no other choice. They simply had to trust their strength to get out of this alive. 

“ If I can’t then I’ll just die. But if I win, I live. Unless I fight, I cannot win” with that she launched herself up a tall a building. Tsukishima fixed his glasses before preparing to the same. However, he was stopped by someone gabbing his hand. It was Marco.

“ You can’t be serious! That’s reckless!”  
Sighing, he pulled his hand back by force. “It’s just pathetic to give up on something before you even give it a shot.” With that, Tsukishima set off as well, leaving all those behind him staring. 

“ Just wait, Tadashi…… I’ll be right there"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so so so so sorry about the late update. I forgot to mention it in the previous chapter, but I had my exams which is why I couldn't update. They got over yesterday and I'm gonna fail math for sure TT. Anyways, I hope you guys like this chapter and continue reading. Shout out to our awesome co-creator, or beta reader sakuraxblossom! Thank you so much for beta reading! I'm still an amateur writer so forgive me for the inconsistent writing. Thank you so much for reading!


	8. Execution pt.1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I recommend listening to some AOT OST for your best experience!

Huff

“Samu! Get the one on the left!”

Huff

“ Tsumu! Behind you!”

Huff 

“ Okay! They’re in! All that’s left is to hold your fort!”

Huff 

“ Shoyo-kun! Move forward!”

Huff

3 minutes. It had just been 3 minutes since they had begun their mission. Yet to Hinata it felt an eternity. He was already exhausted after a good hour of fighting, he was at his limit. Yet, he didn’t feel any fatigue. Instead, he felt calm. He could hear and see things clearly. His body was moving according to his will. Was it adrenaline? He heard everything so clearly that it felt like he could hear the sound of everyone breathing.

Huff

Cutting through the tough skin of a 7-meter titan, red liquid came gushing out. It was everywhere. The heavy metallic scent made him sick, Hinata wasn’t even sure about whether or not the blood all over him was of the titans or his. It was starting to narrow his vision. All he could see was red. 

Huff

“ Atsumu-san! Towards your left!” 

Their initial plan was to escape the minute the other team got in. However, things didn’t go according to plan. There was a rapid surge in the amount of titans. Luckily the ones they were going up against were pure titans…. Mostly. They could still escape but there was no guarantee to what these titans would do, worst case scenario, everyone in HQ including the four who went in would turn into titan fodder. 

Huff

“ Tsumu!” 

Atsmu and Osamu were working in a group of two, helping each other out. Cutting through another titan’s nape, Hinata got blood in his eyes. Losing sight of what was in front of him, he felt a sharp sense of danger. It felt strangely uncomfortable, It was reassuring to have a partner. Is that how it felt to fight alone? Was this how it felt to fight without someone like Kageyama? Hinata was incredibly skilled, this was mainly because of his ODM gear techniques. However, his mental strength was beyond just weak. This was his greatest weakness. Soldiers require extreme mental strength, especially if they are in the survey corps. Having weak mental strength can turn the tables on you almost instantly. One can be the most strongest and skilled soldier but with weak mental strength, it can be fatal.

Huff

“ Samu! Slow down!”

Hinata snapped out of it as soon as he heard Atsumu. It was true. To anyone who knew how Osamu worked, it would be clear to them. Osamu had been extremely impatient since the beginning of the mission. While he was getting rid of many, he was using a lot of necessary gas at the same time. All of them had limited gas and he was using it recklessly. That could result in death as well. He was playing with his life

Huff

Ah. He just couldn’t get used to it. Hinata wondered about when he started depending on Kageyama so heavily. Fatigue got a hold of his body. His legs felt heavy and wobbly. Not able to look at anything, Hinata panicked. Blood had blinded him. 

“ Shoyo-kun!”

Atsumu’s panicked voice made it all so clear to him.

Huff

Just as he regained his sight, he could see it in front of him. A titan. It was small, maybe a 4-meter-class one. It had jumped, an abnormal. It’s big, ugly face just sticking out. It had a big smile on its face. Hinata wondered. Was it fun? Was it so damn fun to eat humans? Was it fun to see them suffering? 

Huff

Feeling a nerve pop up, Hinata felt his fear turn into to pure rage, pity and resentment. It was like fuel to his body. Instantly switching positions, Hinata dodged what could be a deadly attack and gouged the titan’s eyes. Falling down with it, He switched positions yet again, this time aiming for its nape. Instantaneously cutting through it, killing it instantly. 

Huff

Firing his grapple hooks at a higher building, Hinata launched himself up in the sky, gaining some altitude. Smiling a little, he closed his eyes for a minute. He didn’t know what exactly it was. But he felt this weird sense of defeat. Yet, instead of feeling despair, he was excited. He was determined not to lose. He was here. He was going past his limits. 

Falling down, Hinata focused on all his surroundings. Looking at the positions of his teammates, HQ, other buildings and all other titans as well. Looking at the other side of HQ, which was still heavily crawling with titans. Licking his lower lip, he decided to clear the ones on that side. Firing the grapple hooks towards a wall right next to the titan, Hinata reeled himself towards the wall. It was okay. The ones on the other side were all Pure titans…… or so he thought. Focusing a little too much on the titan he was going for, he didn’t notice their change in behaviour. When he did notice, it was too late.

A cold sweat broke out on his forehead. Swiftly moving towards the wall, Hinata’s eyes-widened as he flinched. Those weren’t pure titans, they were abnormals. It was not possible; he had checked properly, they were most definitely pure titans. Out of shock he was unable to change positions while there was a chance. Unable to back out now, Hinata feared the worst. He could probably kill the one he was aiming for but what after that? There was a lake of abnormals there; at least one of them would grab him. Maybe he could use the titan’s body to switch positions immediately. 

Huff

No…. he didn’t have time to think about that. There was a titan, it was about to jump. Jumping ever so swiftly, Hinata almost didn’t see it. It was about to bite his upper body off. Hinata felt his life flash before his eyes. Regretting his decision from a moment ago, he hated himself for being over-confident. Why did he do this? It was over for him. But… he didn’t want to die just yet. Not while he hasn’t done anything. He hasn’t even seen the outside world yet. Would Kageyama cry if he died? How would Natsu live? Would the other three take care of her? Moments of happiness, memories of all of them. He could see them all. Instantly tearing up, Hinata partially closed his eyes.  
The feeling of desperacy was taking over him.

‘ S-Someone save me’

With that, he felt blood all over him. 

Huff

It took a moment for him to realise the blood all over him was not his. It was off the titan who tried to consume him. With that, almost like rain, he saw several cadets. Soaring over him, they were killing titans. The abnormals who didn’t see them coming almost instantly got killed. 

Back hitting the wall, Hinata rolled down it, falling onto a roof. He didn’t feel pain. Surprise took over the feeling of pain. He was alive. He was breathing. A cadet, the one who killed the abnormal, landed in front of him. Back facing Hinata, he began.

“Oi… You’d make his highness a liar if you died”

The signal flare signified the start of their mission. The decoy team and execution team went their own ways. Kageyama was anxious. He was anxious about whether or not that would be the last time he’d see Hinata. The four on the execution team, broke in through a window on the 3rd floor. Glass was scattered everywhere. Looking below desks and tables, he found other cadets and Garrison members. They had their hands covering their ears, terrified they didn’t even bother looking at the four who had broken in. They looked like they had lost both the will to fight and the will to live. Looking at the left, Kageyama saw the disturbing sight of a guy who had shot himself through the mouth. The girl next to his body looked traumatised but didn’t move at all.

“ Let’s go” Sugawara commanded. As much as he’d want to help them, soldiers who had lost the will to live wouldn’t serve any purpose right now. There were more lives on the line outside. 

Hesitating a little, Kageyama was slow to start running. Catching up to the rest, Sugawara was leading them through the east staircase. “ Um… Sugawara-san, can you tell us where we’re heading?” 

Glancing at Kageyama for a mere second, Sugawara looked back front before answering. “ We’re making a stop at the medical room first.” The term medical room made Kageyama feel heavy. “ We might need to restock over there, if there are any titans over there, I will take care of it”

“ Okay, we’ll hel-”

‘Corporal Sugawara! Let me help you!’

“ I will take care of them myself” Sugawara firmly said

Flinching Kageyama, felt intimidated “ But, even for someone experienced like you, it would be hard to take on titans in that small r-”

‘C-Corporal S-sugawara…. S-save me…. I don’t want to d-die yet’

“ No! I will take care of them myself” stressing on ‘myself’, Sugawara took a moment to realised how harsh he sounded . Looking back at Kageyama, he gave him a small smile. “ I’ll need your help later, save your energy for then.” Looking back front, he took another turn.

“ We don’t know the current situation of both the gas chamber and the medical room, if there are titans in the medical room, I will take care of them. If the numbers are too much to clean up, I want the three of you to leave me and head towards the gas chamber. If it’s uncontrollable over there as well, I want you guys to run away.”

As much as they didn’t want to abandon him, they agreed to his plan. It was the most sensible. If there were a group of titans in there, they wouldn’t have enough time to run away. Someone needed to stay behind to buy them some time. 

Reaching the medical room, it was strangely quiet. The door was untouched, not even a single scratch on it. This however, didn’t mean anything. The eastern part of the building was breached. The medical room had two doors, one in the eastern side and one in the western side . The door breached was on the first floor. Fortunately, the medical room was on the second floor. Obviously, this didn’t mean that they could relax. Being ever so alert, Sugawara put his hand on the door knob. Giving one last look to the guys behind him, he looked at them for approval. The three of them were quick to nod symbolising an ‘okay’. Kageyama could feel his heart beat out of his chest. Would he walk in to see a half-eaten Yamaguchi? A group of titans? Nothing at all? Swallowing, he felt sweat dripping down his forehead. 

Kita placed his hand on Kageyama’s shoulder, not looking at him, Kita gave what almost seemed like a telepathic message.

‘ pay attention’ 

Looking up front, Sugawara started twisting the door knob. A click sound was made. He then slowly opened the door. Blocking the view, Sugawara flinched before instantly relaxing his shoulders. Sighing out of relief, he entered the room. Peeking in, Kageyama felt his heart drop as he saw a titan. Fortunately for all of them, the titan was dead, steam being produced from it. As relieved as he was, he couldn’t relax just yet. While the western side door was untouched, the eastern side door was in a horrible condition, everything including the wall and the floor was in a mess. Everything was completely destroyed. Walking in quickly, he looked around the room. There was no one in sight.

“ Yamaguchi!” he called out “ Are you th-”

“ Kageyama?” turning around immediately, Kageyama followed the tiny voice which he recognised. Taking a turn around a large wall, he fell on his knees as he saw a scared Yamaguchi huddled up with a small kid. Sighing out of relief, he almost teared up. 

“ You’re okay” he said, voice cracking a little in the end

Well he wasn’t completely okay, there was blood on his forehead, nevertheless it didn’t look too bad. It was far better than what he had imagined as the worst case scenario. Deeming it as a cut or something of that sort, Kageyama was relieved. Yamaguchi was okay and in one piece. 

Looking at Kageyama, Yamaguchi instantly started crying. The fear, terror and anxiety which he had bottled up finally came out. Yamaguchi was relieved as well. Hugging the little girl tighter, he thanked god. At least Kageyama was okay, the fear of being alone was gone.

“ Kageyama! Let’s go!” Their emotional reunion was cut short with that statement. As much as he’d want to stay, there were other lives on the line. Breathing out loudly, Kageyama stood up and walked towards Yamaguchi. Sitting on one knee to meet Yamaguchi’s line of vision, he placed his hand on his shoulder. 

“ Hinata and I were together until a few minutes ago. I don’t know how he’s doing now but I’m pretty sure that he’s just fine. I haven’t heard anything about Tsukishima yet but-”

“ Tsukki-”

“ I’m pretty sure he’s fine. That guy…. That idiot… won’t die so easily. He’ll continue to live so don’t worry… or so I’d like to say, but I’m pretty sure you’re going to be stressing over that. I’m currently in between a mission so I can’t stay too long, but long story short, we’re heading towards the gas chambers to supply some gas to other cadets-”

The term ‘gas chamber’ made Yamaguchi perk his head up. “ You can’t go to the gas chamber! It’s crawling with titans!” 

Kageyama felt anxiety hitting him again. He knew that there would be titans there, yet somewhere deep down, he hoped for it to be like this. Just like the medical room, he hoped that there were no titans. Closing his eyes for a second, he tried to calm himself down.

“ I know, don’t worry about it. I want you to go to the main office in the 3rd floor, it’s safe there” glancing at the kid in his arms, he pointed at her “that way you can save her as well” 

Hesitant about the entire plan, he waited for a minute. Cold sweat dripped down his forehead. Kageyama had a point, it’s not like Yamaguchi could do anything. He wasn’t particularly strong or weak, he was pretty average. He had only one weapon, his knowledge in emergency rescue and medicine. He could save people who were in a pinch with his weapon. 

Nodding and giving him a simple ‘okay’, Yamaguchi carried the unconscious girl and took off with her. 

Glancing at both Yamaguchi and the girl as they left, Sugawara looked at Kageyama “ Someone you know?” 

“ Ah, yes. A close friend” He replied, walking away towards them. 

Heading for the door, Sugawara partially looked back at them “ We were lucky this time, the dangerous part is yet to come. Be prepared” 

Looking at him, the other three just stared determined. There was a moment of silence, it was soon followed by a firm and loud ‘yes’.

“ Okay then, let’s go”

“ Yes, sir!”

Sweat dripping down his face, Yamaguchi felt rather stressed. It’s not like he was fighting, let alone being on the front lines. He should be thankful that he didn’t have to put his life on the line, yet he felt like his job was hard. After an hour long shift at the gas chamber, he was assigned to the medical room. The doctors willing to help was reduced from little to none, having extra knowledge in the medical field led him to his current position. The medical room was flooded with injured soldiers. Most of them however, were just Garrison officers with minor injuries. Not only were they taking up bed space, they were chatting with each other, almost like nothing was happening outside. It was clear that they weren’t ready to fight, they probably forged an injury to skip the entire battle. 

Despite knowing all this, all Yamaguchi could do was treat them. There were other who were more severely injured yet, they had to either turn them away or ask them to wait. It was the worst. This was simply abuse of power, Garrison members who had connections with each other, helped each other out. They didn’t care about all the dying cadets. All they cared about was themselves. 

“ Oi, green-haired cadet, get us something to eat” a garrison member commanded

Yamaguchi felt pure disgust, this wasn’t a restaurant. They were out for a bit, didn’t they know about the bloody warzone outside? How could he ask for food right now? 

“ I’m sorry could you wait for sometime? I have to treat this girl first” that’s right, he had to play his cards right. He couldn’t argue with them, he’d have zero chance of victory. Leaving that, he didn’t have the courage to start one. He had one weapon, a weapon to save other’s lives. He was determined to save the girl Tsukishima entrusted him with, using his weapon.

“ Oi, oi, oi, are you kidding? That girl is pretty much useless now. She can’t even work, why save someone as useless as her? I don’t even think you’re supposed to treat kids over here”

Yamaguchi didn’t get angry often but he felt his blood boil. They were failures of an adult. He was going to save her, “ I’m sorry but could you please wa-”

Standing up from his chair, it was clear that the soldiers ‘sprained leg’ was completely okay. “Don’t mess with me cadet. Do you even know I can do?!” Raising his fist to punch him, all Yamaguchi could do was wait for the impact. However, that never came, instead there was a really loud ‘thud’. Opening his eyes, everyone was surprised by the loud sound. The medical room was filled with silence. Something about the entire ordeal made him feel uncomfortable. He felt the same way five years ago with the fall of Shiganshina. Carrying the girl, he moved towards a wall further away from the door. Sitting down behind the wall, he began disinfecting her wounds. The door was soon opened by a soldier who he couldn’t see. “ HQ has been invaded by titans” the man said calmly. Yamaguchi could feel his heart drop, he was confused. ‘Huh?’ Is all he could tell to himself. 

The quiet room was soon filled with screams and cries. However, this wasn’t the worst to come to them. “ Don’t worry” the soldier told, this got the attention of everyone else in the room, the room was filled with what silence yet again “The pain will soon end….”

With that, there was what seemed like lightning in the room. Screams of anguish were heard, walls began collapsing, there was a strong wave of heat. Strong winds got to him even behind the large wall, the strong force of wind pushed him forward. Hugging the girl, he protected her head and neck with his arms. Soon he hit a wall on the other side, he felt a sharp sting in his head. Warm blood started gushing out his head, he was starting to lose consciousness. Just as he was about to pass out, he saw what seemed like a titan standing by the crumbled entrance. 

The wall which he hid behind, luckily hadn’t collapsed yet. It had protected him. Holding the girl tighter, he tried to ensure her safety before collapsing soon. 

A loud sound woke him up, eyes twitching open, Yamaguchi tried making sense out of his situation. It took him a minute to remember what had happened. The minute he did, he checked on the girl. The room was completely destroyed. Catching his head, which was stinging, he tried getting up. Looking around, he could see something big by what would have been the door. Gulping, he laid the girl down. He then hid behind the almost collapsing wall and walked towards the object. He was soon greeted by the unsightly view of a human being slowly eaten off. Yamaguchi could just stare wide-eyed. Instantly looking away, he covered his mouth preventing him from making sounds. Trembling profusely, Fear filled his body, one wrong move and that thing would eat him. The human it was eating was dead, yet it continued to chew on him. 

He didn’t know what to do. He could simply sit over there and wait for his death. There was also a possibility that it wouldn’t notice him. Or… maybe he could fight. Looking at the blades fixed in his gear, hands shaking, he silently removed it. Could he actually manage to defeat it? He was too scared to move. Looking around the destroyed room, he saw a metal box under a pile of wood. 

‘ Bombs and other explosives are kept in metal boxes. We don’t use them much, but if required they can be found in gas chambers and equipment rooms’

That’s when it hit him. The equipment room had been transformed to a temporary medical room. Slowly walking towards it, he reached out to the box and pulled it towards him. Box in hand, he fiddled around it for a bit before opening it. He gasped, his deduction was right. The box had bombs in it. Not a lot of them but they were there. Taking one, he furrowed his brows. His plan was truly reckless; Tsukishima would most definitely disapprove of it. But he didn’t the courage to attack it with his skills. Moving towards it again, he peeked at it. This time though, he was caught. It was staring right back at him. His breathing got heavy and all he could feel was terror. Shaking, he almost lost the bomb in hand. He couldn’t move. The feeling of hunting to being hunted was not something he worked well with. Despite desperately trying to move, his attempts were of no use. The titan stood up and started walking towards him. This was the end. 

‘ If you can’t find a reason to fight, then don’t bother fighting at all’

Huff

Everything seemed clear to him and he instantly calmed down. Running away from the girl, he led the titan away from her. Waiting for it to come close, he took the bomb in hand. Detonating the bomb, he aimed for its open mouth and threw it in. Quickly running away from it, he grabbed the girl and dove behind a thick broken wall. Soon there was a loud blast followed by complete silence.

Cautiously looking back up, he could see the titan lay there, its head was completely blown off. Sighing out of relief, he relaxed his tensed body. Looking at the ceiling which was partially destroyed, he gave a small laugh. Spread his arms and legs, he continued looking up, sighing again, looks like Tsukishima saved him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I'm so sorry about the late update TT. I've been really busy lately and I ended up rewriting this entire chapter after I thought it was deleted. Anyways! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and I'd like to thank our lovely beta reader @sakuraxblossom yet again for all her help!


	9. Execution pt.2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I recommend listening to some epic AOT OST while reading this fic!

“Oi… you’d make his highness a liar if you died”

Eyes-widening both out of shock and happiness. Hinata stood up. 

“ Tsu… Tsukishimaaaaa” he screamt as he ran towards the blonde-haired scout, who moved out of the way of “their” hug. 

“You feral child, there’s no time to celebrate! 3-meter class abnormal heading this way!” he screamt as he launched himself on top of the building.

Mid-air, Tsukishima smile. He was glad, glad that what Armin told him was simply his misconception.

Hinata was felt energy brimming in his body. The adrenaline from almost dying again, the excitement of seeing all the other cadets; the exhilaration of seeing Tsukishima alive, the possibility of them winning. 

“ Someone! Help me!” acting out of instinct, Hinata changed directions mid-air, and threw himself towards the voice. 

“ Daisuke! Hold on!” he yelled before he slashed through the titans thick skin. The boy, named Daisuke then fell out the hand of the titan. Rushing to his aid, Hinata managed to catch him right before he would’ve fallen to his death. 

Gasping the boy, clinged onto Hinata despite being bigger than him. “ I’ll let you down there, use your ODM gear to g-”

“ My ODM gear is broken! It doesn’t work!” looking at the guy once again, Hinata bit his lower lip. Was there a way to get him to safety while not being eaten himself?

His thoughts were brought to a stop as he saw what seemed like a 9-meter-titan being thrown away with great force. Hinata wasn’t sure about what caused it but staring at the site, he almost lost control of his gear.

‘Huh?’

“Hinata!” Turning around to look at the owner of the voice, he was taken aback to see Connie, Mikasa and Armin. 

Settling down on a high roof, all he could do was stare wide-eyed at Armin who he had thought was dead. 

“Hinata! Thank god, you’re okay!” Connie said as he came down to the same roof. It might not have seemed like it to many people but Hinata being the social butterfly he is, had maintained a close relationship with all the scouts, obviously this included Connie as well. 

“ A-Armin” he said voice shaking, Armin had a similar reaction. He was convinced that everyone besides him was dead.

Putting Daisuke down, Hinata slowly approached Armin before pulling him into a tight hug. Tearing up, he was on the verge of a breakdown. Hinata was pulled out of his emotional state as he felt Mikasa’s hand on his shoulder. Looking up at her, Armin then broke the hug. “Hinata, this can come later, we have to focus on the enemy for now” Mikasa said as considerate as she could.

Hinata couldn’t look at Mikasa in the eye. He was embarrassed and ashamed. Even after having a higher ranking than Eren, he completely failed to protect him. “Also, there’s something you guys might wanna have a look at-”

Armin’s statement was cut off by a large thud, with that almost in slow-motion, the five of them saw a titan fly past them, head disfigured. An almost 15-meter tall titan, swiftly ran past them, None of them had the time to react. Turning around to look at that titan, Hinata just stood and watched as the giant titan ignored all surrounding humans, going straight for its kind. 

“ U-uh? Huh? Wait… wah? What’s happeni-”

“That titan’s not interested in humans!” Connie partially yelled, Hinata turned around to face him “It’s been going after titans! It’s our ally!” 

Huh? A titan? Ally? Can a titan be their ally? They can’t. They’ve been eating humans. They breached the walls, ate everyone, they even killed Eren. It is impossible for titans to be their ally’s.

“ If that titan can get rid of all the titans over here the-” Armin who looked excited about the idea was cut off by Hinata 

“ Oi Armin. You can’t possibly be thinking of that titan as our ally right? That’s stupid” Everyone was taken aback by Hinata tone of speech. The look of annoyance on his face intimidated everyone standing there. Hinata who was usually cheerful and open to everything was now opposing Armin. His eyes had darkened, it didn’t even have its usual light. “Hinata! That’s going too far!” Connie spoke up 

Turning around before Connie could finish, Hinata walked towards Daisuke who was standing a little further away from them “I don’t know what you guys think about that thing but I refuse to accept as our ally. Especially after its kind killed everyone.” Turning around to face them again, he looked at them dead in the eyes. “ I’m surprised you can suggest something like that after it killed Eren” 

“Hinata!” Connie screamt 

“Ah, sorry. I’m not feeling my best right now” he said with no emotion visible. Approaching Daisuke, he asked him to hang onto him as they fled away to a safer place. 

“ Okay then” Sugawara began “ The gas chamber is just downstairs-”

“Um- Sugawara san” Kageyama said as he partially raised his hand, grabbing the attention of everyone in the room, they all looked at him

“ Is something wrong?” Sugawara asked, a little worried. 

“ It’s been a little loud outside from a while ago” Sugawara gave out a realising gasp as he looked up comprehending the situation. “Has something happened outside?” Suna was quick to ask

“ I’m not sure about what’s going on outside, but if everything went according to plan the three of them should’ve gotten away already… but then agai-”

“ –in nothing goes according to plan when titans are involved” Sugawara said as he completed Kita’s statement.

“ Should we head out?” Kageyama asked a little worried. He didn’t want to lose Hinata no matter what. He knew that Yamaguchi was safe, it gave him some kind of relief. But then again, there was Hinata and Tsukishima. Hinata was with Atsumu so, he had some kind of reassurance. Tsukishima on the other hand, was completely out of his reach. He had no clue about whether or not he was with the cadets who had run out of gas. There was also the possibility that he would’ve somehow gotten killed. 

‘No, no, no. That idiot of a guy wouldn’t get killed so easily’ 

Trying to erase that possibility, he tried to come up with other scenarios. 

“ No, we can’t do that” Sugawara said. They had made it pretty far in. Going to try to save the ones outside, who might not even be there, would simply make everything they’ve done so far a waste. Even if he hates it, if something happens to the others outside, he had no choice but to own up to it and take responsibility. There were more lives on the line outside, he had to take the risk.“ Let’s move” 

With that three of them- Sugawara, Kita, Suna; ran up ahead. Kageyama stood in place, not moving an inch, it was like his foot was glued to the ground. Looking down, he clenched his fist as he scrunched up his face. He knew very well that there were a lot of lives in the line, yet the only ones he could think of were three people. He was worried about Hinata’s safety, so much so that he was ready to defy orders. Should he go up on his own? What would he be risking? What was at stake? The pro’s? The con’s? Kageyama felt something snap inside of him. Just as he was about to turn around and leave the building he felt a hand pressed on his shoulder. Turning around, he was surprised to see Suna. 

“Going to Hinata?” he asked.

Looking down again, he didn’t reply. Kageyama knew that what he was doing was selfish. However, he was desperate to save the lives of who were dear to him. He had already lost those who were called his family. He didn’t want to lose anyone else anymore. Clenching his teeth, he gritted them. “So what? Are going to stop me”

Suna took a moment to stare at him, before exhaling. “I won’t stop you”

Looking up at Suna surprised, Kageyama was taken aback. He was sure that Suna was about to stop him. “However, I think you should trust Hinata.” Closing his eyes, he removed his hand from his shoulder and walked towards the opposite direction. Kageyama simply stared at his back as he began walking away “I don’t know about what’s going on between the two of you but, I do know one thing. Hinata’s strong. Trust him. Believe in him.” 

Stopping near the stairwell, he looked back at Kageyama once again “Because he does in you.” With that he ran down the staircases to catch up to the other two. Kageyama stood in dilemma. Confused about whether or not he should go, he felt troubled 

‘Trust him’ 

‘He does in you’

With that, he quickly turned on his heel and ran to join the three headed towards the gas chamber. 

‘Hinata, you better be safe. If not, I’ll kill you’

“ Mikasa! In there!” With that the three of them (Connie, Armin, Mikasa) threw themselves through the window of HQ. Running further in to hide from any titans who pass by, they rushed towards a corridor right by the windows. 

Brushing off any glass particles on their uniforms, the three of them seemed rather down after their conversation with Hinata. “ Y-You guys! Mikasa! You’re safe!” taken aback, the three of them turned around to meet the owner of them voice. It was Jean. 

“Jean?” Connie asked for confirmation. The corridor was pretty dark being surrounded by brick and concrete. There was no working light which caused them to think that they were alone in the corridor. “Yea, it’s me” he said as he walked towards them. 

Sighing out of relief, they relaxed a bit. “So you didn’t bite the dust” Connie said as he slid down the wall. “Huh? What do you take me for? I won’t die so easily” Jean said looking away. 

All of them were exhausted, both mentally and physically. Loosing friend you have known for 3-4 years within the span of a few minutes was too much for them to take. Leaving that alone, they didn’t have the time to mourn, they had to focus on surviving. They were only teenagers. Only 15-year-olds doing their best to survive. Yet, the world was cruel to them. The battlefield was so fierce and bloody, loosing lives were inevitable. Nonetheless, they had to keep fighting. 

“Connie, get up. We have to regroup” Mikasa said almost emotionlessly. Looking up at her once, he then got up. The three of them then continued walking inside, following Jean’s lead. “ Oi Jean, where are we going?”

“The rest of the cadets are inside, we’ll regroup over there. We have to come up with some kind of plan anyways” He said without turning around 

They continued walking in silence. The silence was so apparent that the sounds of their footsteps were loud and clear.

Looking at Armin who seemed rather depressed, Connie sighed. Going to his side, he put his arm around his shoulder. Armin flinched at this but soon relaxed. “If it’s about Hinata, let him be. Who knows what he saw, besides Kageyama wasn’t with him. I wanted to ask him about him but I was too scared to bring it up.” Armin kept quiet as he looked down. “He might have seen what you saw some time back as well. Give him some time he’ll come around”

Giving him a small smile, Armin thanked Connie before telling him that he was just fine. 

Following Jean’s lead, they reached the rest of the cadets, all who were murmuring amongst themselves. Looking around the room, Armin freaked out as he saw a few people missing. Looking at Daisuke who was inside, Armin quickly approached him.

“ Hey Daisuke, where’s Hinata and Tsukishima?” He asked, worry obvious in his tone. 

Facing Armin, he then looked at the ground nervous. “They two of them are still outside”

“Why?!” he screamt catching the attention of everyone present in the room. Cold sweat dripping down his forehead, Armin was quick to clear his throat before apologising to everyone including Daisuke.

Daisuke who was sitting, stood up and looked at Armin. “He insisted on staying out, he told that he’d distract all the titans from coming inside” he began 

‘That idiot’

Armin cursed under his breath, if anyone should be called suicidal manic, it shouldn’t be Eren but Hinata. 

“Tsukishima told that he’d keep him company. Apparently him staying out alone was suicide so Tsukishima decided to tag along. From what I know Atsumu and Osamu are staying with the two, the others who aren’t here are either missing or dead”

“No way… not even Kageyama” he said clenching his fist. He had already lost Eren, now for all he knows, he had lost Kageyama as well. He could only think about how many more had to die in order for this hell to end.

“Everyone! Look at what we found!” Armin recognised the voice immediately, it was Reiner. Looking at the wooden boxes in hand, Armin recognised both the box and the content almost immediately 

“It’s the military police’s supplies. It’s covered in dust though”

“Armin has a plan” Mikasa announced

Opening the box, it was filled with guns and other kinds of close range artillery. There were enough guns for everyone but limited bullets. Taking them out, Jean was quick to load the gun with three bullets. With a loud click sound, it was ready to be used.

“Will three bullets be enough? Do these guns even work against titans in the first place?”

“It’s better than nothing. Even if there are seven 3-4 meter titans in the gas chamber, blinding them all at once isn’t impossible with all this firearm.”

Cadets looked at each other with rather confused and sceptical faces. Armin noticed this but continued explaining his plan.

“First we’ll use the lift to lower a large amount of people into the centre of the chamber. Next they’ll fire directly into the faces of all seven titans. We’ll blind them”

Looking up towards Mikasa once, she gave him a nod as a sign to continue. Looking down again, he felt sweat drip down his face. “The next instance will decided everything.”

The tension in the room visibly increased. 

“Seven other people hiding near the ceiling will swoop down to attack their weak spots while they are blinded. In other words, we’ll be gambling everything on this single attack.”

Hesitantly glancing at everyone in sight, he then gave out a distressed sigh. “The seven should be the most physically capable ones, but you’ll have to shoulder the burden of everyone’s lives… so, um- I’m sorry”

“No problem” Reiner was quick to tell with a reassuring smile on his face.

“If anyone of us fail, we’ll all die. This risk is the same.” Annie added

“I’m a nobody…. is my plan really the best option?” Armin asked doubtfully 

“We’ve got no other choices except your plan. There’s no time to think, this idea’s our only shot. All that’s left is to give it everything we’ve got!” Marco cheerfully added. 

Mikasa sat on her right knee and placed her hand on Armin’s shoulder. Looking at him in the eye, she began “Don’t worry. Be confident. You’ve got the talent for reasoning out the best solution. That intuition has saved my life before, and Eren’s life too.”

“Huh? When?” Armin asked confused

“Let’s head down!” Reiner announced loudly

“You have, you just aren’t aware of it. I’ll tell you the rest later” Mikasa said as she walked towards the rifles.

Looking at her as he saw her walk away, he looked down. If this plan didn’t work out, they’d all die and it’d be his fault. He had to be ready to take that encumbrance down with him.

Heading down with the rest, everyone tried to joke around while they could. The pressure and stress could cause problems with their plan itself, to prevent that Reiner made a few light hearted comments.

“But can we really kill titans without the 3d maneuver gear?” Connie asked, cautiously going down the stairs.

“Sure we can, we’re only up with 3-4 meter class ones. It’s easy to target their weak spots.  
Who cares about how big they are? It’s always the spot at the nape of their neck”

“ Length: 1 vertical meter, Width: 10 centimeter!” Sasha added

“Or just ram your blade up their assholes. That’s their only other weak point” Reiner said with a confident smile

“What?! I’ve never heard of that move!” said Connie after he obliviously believed Reiner

“Even I’ve never heard of that” Sasha said rather quietly and cautiously .

“Reiner those might be your last words b- Oi! don’t suddenly stop like that-” Jean immediately stopped talking, looking below the stairwell was someone he didn’t expect to see.

“Huh-” the two parties told in unison

“W-what are you guys doing here?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I finally updated in time! So how was your day? Mine was pretty hectic, we are moving places pretty soon so, I've been pretty busy lately. Like always I'd like to thank our beta reader @sakuraxblossom for all her help! I hope you guys like this chapter and thank you for all your support!


	10. Execution pt.3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I recommend listening to some Hiroyuki Sawano music while reading this fic!

“W-What are you doing over here?!” The two parties screamt as their voices echoed.

Staring at each other out of shock for a good minute, Armin then exclaimed “K-Kageyama?!”

“Armin…” Kageyama replied in a low tone. Kageyama was sort of surprised that Armin was alive. Don’t get him wrong, he didn’t want him dead. It’s just that Armin was physically weak which made him undependable on the battlefield. On the other hand he was incredibly smart. To think that Armin would possibly win against a titan or just survive in general was a little unbelievable for him. Kageyama was relieved either way.

“Suna! Kita! Kageyama!” Connie exclaimed. With a smile on his face, he then raised his hands forming little fists. “I’m glad that you’re okay!”

Giving them small smiles, the two of them remained in silence.

“Kageyama-kun, you know what, I-We-All of us were really worried about you” Pushing her hand forward, Sasha partially bowed before continuing “Don’t get me wrong- I didn’t think that you died I did actually but I didn’t- I was worried about eating and you guys just passed my mind- not that I didn’t care about you, I was just hungry”

Kageyama just gave her a small bow, he knew that she spoke fast, stuttered a lot and spoke with difficulty but he never knew that it was that bad.

“Um… I don’t mean to cut your heart-filled reunion but we need to do something about the titans in there..” Sugawara said a low tone, he had his right hand partially raised almost like he was asking permission to speak. All of then then turned towards him which made him flinch. Kageyama didn’t really get Sugawara, when he was with a small group of people he was a great speaker and leader. The minute the crowd of people would increase, he voice would get tinier, he would appear to be timid.

Connie looked at the three down the stairs with a confused look. Kita then took time to explain who was.

“So, he was the only garrison member who willing to help you guys” he completed. The cadets took time to gaze at him in awe before attacking him with a bunch of ‘thank you’s’ and ‘wow’s’. Sugawara looked uncertain the entire time they were talking. His body was tensed up and he had cold sweat dripping down his forehead. Suna who noticed this didn’t really think of doing anything but soon enough his body moved on his own.

“Let’s discuss about what to do from now, we have to change plans. It might be a good thing that we have more people”

Sugawara gave Suna a smilE, it seemed to be out of appreciation. Suna gave him a nod before quickly turning away. He honestly didn’t really care about what was happening inside but he needed to go outside quickly, he wanted this entire thing to get over as soon as possible.

“Okay” Armin replied “Let’s run through the plan once again”

“H-how many m-more to go” Hinata asked out of breath

“I… have no idea…” Tsukishima replied equally out of breath “O-Oi….. do we have to be here? We… can go in already… that titan is distracting the others anyway.. his highness will.. murder me if…. Something were to happen to you”

“ Look ahead… or else you won’t be alive till then” Hinata replied

“Shut… up shrimp. I have a higher chance of survival than you…” he said, yet out of breath

Looking at Tsukishima and back, Hinata fidgeted nervously. Quickly noticing this, Tsukishima was quick to question him. “What is it now? Are you still worried about his highness-”

“Yamaguchi!” he said almost too loud. This made Tsukishima flinch, he then looked away from Hinata almost telepathically telling him not to speak about it. Hinata who couldn’t read the air continued to talk. “He…. He might not be alrig-”

“Titan incoming” Tsukishima said rather robotically. Hinata felt sort of offended but shrugged it off. It was Tsukishima who they were talking about. He was rather methodical and instinctively cautions. He would always find ways to avoid conversations that he didn’t want to talk about. Yamaguchi was one of these topics.

Slashing through the titans thick and hard skin, Tsukishima felt sluggish. He was never good with stamina or speed. While some part of him did want to stay out to look after Hinata, the main reason he decided to stay outside was different. He wanted to convince himself that he was simply protecting Hinata but truth to be said he was scared of going inside. He was scared that he would walk in to seeing Kageyama crying over a dead body. The thought made his body shiver. However, Tsukishima would never admit to this. He would never admit his ‘weakness’ or ‘flaw’ to anyone.

_‘Tsukki!’_

The voice in his head made the world spin for a second. He then anxiously yet skilfully swung his blade at a titans nape making it fall to its death instantly. Breathing out heavily, he panted as he fell on his right knee. He couldn’t go on.

“Tsukishima!” Hinata yelled as he rushed over to him. Tsukishima who thought that he was just being overdramatic, was brought still as he felt a big hand wrap around him. He was certain that it wasn’t a human’s hand, it was impossible for one to be that big. Turning around to see the titan’s mouth wide open as it brought Tsukishima close to its mouth, he used his wits to cut through two of its fingers. While it did loosen its grip, it continued to grab onto his leg as he tried to escape. Hinata quickly used the distraction to cut through the titans nape.

Falling from a height, Tsukishima’s back hit a rooftop as he almost toppled over. He used his gear to keep himself up. Breathing in and out quickly, he tried to regain his senses after almost being eaten. 

“Oi, Tsukishima you okay?” Hinata asked just as tired. Hinata was starting to feel bad, just because he couldn’t keep his emotions in check he tried to get rid of his frustration by killing titans. Armin had gone through something terrible, he hadn’t lost as much as Armin did. He was in no place to tell something that horrible to him. Even after that, he not only troubled but almost got Tsukishima eaten. Looking down, he gripped his hand out of frustration.

“I’m sorr-”

“Could you not apologise? It’s my fault for not being wary” with that, Tsukishima didn’t even spare a glance at Hinata and quickly launched himself to another high building. Hinata sighed, he didn’t have time for emotions right now. He should simply forget about all this and work like a soldier.

With that there was a loud sound of glass shattering. Turning around in shock , he smiled widely as he saw scouts escaping HQ, gas cylinders in hand.

“Hinata!” someone screamed, turning around to face the owner of the smile. He smiled even harder as he saw Daisuke.

“Daisuke!” he shouted with a hint of glee

Daisuke ran towards him and handed him a full gas cylinder. “This is all I could get, there were way too many of us, Armin’s got a cylinder for Tsukishima so don’t worry about him.” Grabbing Hinata’s hand, he started running towards the end of the roof “For now let’s just get out of here”

As much as Hinata wanted to ask about Kageyama this wasn’t the time or place to do so. This was Kageyama they were talking about, he was certain that he would be safe somewhere. Fitting the cylinder in his gear, he got rid of his old one. The two of them then quickly (yet carefully) launched themselves towards the wall avoiding contact with any kind of titan. Tsukishima was quick to catch up to them. Just like Hinata, Tsukishima also wanted to know about Yamaguchi’s whereabouts but he would leave that to Kageyama. He would never admit it but he did trust Kageyama. He was certain that if Yamaguchi was alive, Kageyama would keep him safe. Just like how Tsukishima would keep Hinata safe.

“Mikasa!”

_‘Okay so let’s get this straight’ Sugawara spoke grabbing everyone’s attention_

_‘For now from what we know, there are seven titans in the gas chamber. We are going with Armin’s plan but, we’re changing people.’_

Planting his foot onto the top of the lift, Kageyama breathed out nervously. Tightening his grip on his sword, he looked at Suna who was right next to him. Suna who also glanced back gave him a reassuring nod. The two then continued to look down with complete concentration. 

_‘So the seven to kill the titans will be Mikasa-san, Kageyama, Suna, Reiner, Annie, Bertholdth and me’_

Sugawara felt his body jolt with the sudden stop of the lift. He calmed his body down before getting into position. With a loud and continuous click sound everyone was ready with their gun’s loaded. Sugawara gulped, no matter how experienced he was there was still a lot of pressure on his shoulder. If anyone were to mess up there would be casualties.

“follow the plan” Marco said taking the lead. Sugawara respected Marco. Despite being scared and having such severe responsibility he continued to take the lead. He didn’t falter.

The loud sound of the titan’s footsteps was what they would describe as the sound that they’d hear in hell. It gave them the chills and they weren’t good chills. The smile they had as they turned around was pure horror. Gasps of fear were heard as it started walking towards them.

“Stay calm! Lure them in closer!” Marco reminded. Cold sweat started dripping down Armin’s forehead. If his plan were to fail, he would’ve simply guided everyone to their deaths.

“Hold” Marco continued

_‘End it as soon as possible’_

“Hold”

_‘End it with one strike’_

**“Fire!”**

With that the quiet room was filled with the sound of bullets and firearm.

“Now!” Sugawara screamt

All seven of them jumped down attacking each titan cutting through their nape

Five had gone according to plan. Only five. Suna and Kageyama had failed to cut through the titan’s nape. The two titans turned towards them. Fear was evident in their faces as they realised that they had failed.

_‘Armin-san just in case’_

“Kiristine! Ackerman!” Sugawara yelled

Soon blood gushed out the nape of the two alive titans, Mikasa and Jean landing next to their bodies.

_‘Just in case, I want to keep a cadet as insurance’_

Sugawara’s instinct had saved anyone from getting eaten. It might have been experience but when titans were involved nothing ever went according to plan and he knew it. There was always the possibility of everything going smoothly but it was always good to have backup. ODM gear was a really good weapon on its own but it had a blind spot, certain angles were hard to take control of. Only someone with a lot of experience could handle something like that. That might have been the issue with Kageyama and Suna.

“Thanks, Jean… Mikasa” Suna said out of breath. Kageyama bowed to them to show gratitude. Mikasa nodded while Jean blanked out for a quick minute.

“Fill your tanks! Take any spare cylinders and fill them as well, do it as soon as possible! We’re getting out of here after that! Once you’re out, don’t worry about anyone else, save yourselves!” Sugawara commanded

“Yes sir!” everyone replied

Filling his tank quickly, Kageyama then ran upstairs to Yamaguchi. Stumbling on the way, Kageyama could feel his eyes become heavy. Each minute seemed like an eternity to him, his body had never felt so tired before. Stopping by a storage room, he opened the door which revealed the small girl and Yamaguchi. He sighed out of relief yet again. Nothing major could happen to Yamaguchi in the storage room but he chose to stay worried.

“You have a good amount of fuel right?” Kageyama questioned

Yamaguchi looked at Kageyama up and down, tears in his eyes. Giving a smile he nodded. Kageyama gave him a small smile back and asked Yamaguchi to follow him.

“We’re going up the wall”

Kageyama and Yamaguchi stayed together during their way back. It was almost a given to him, if Tsukishima wasn’t around, Kageyama would help Yamaguchi. That’s exactly what he was doing. He chose the safest route back, one that didn’t have any abnormals. There were cadets getting eaten on the way but they couldn’t turn back. Yamaguchi wanted to close his ears and eyes. The sounds of their screams were deafening to him, he felt horrible. 

“We’re almost there!” Kageyama screamt from ahead

“Kageyama! What about Tsukki and Hinata?!” Yamaguchi also screamt

“We’ll catch up to them inside!”

The two then continued to glide past the bloody streets of wall rose. All the bloodshed caused in this fight was inevitable, Yamaguchi tried to convince that to himself. There was absolutely nothing someone like him could do.

Climbing up the wall of Hermina, the two of them safely made it inside the inner walls. Kageyama found his body unable to support itself after landing. Convinced that it was fatigue he let it go.

Handing the young girl to a medic in the inner walls, Yamaguchi then ran towards Kageyama.

“Kageyama, can you stand up?” Yamaguchi asked before putting his hand out. Kageyama took it but still found it hard to stand. Yamaguchi gave him a small smile before putting Kageyama’s arm around his shoulder, supporting his entire body.

“Let’s get you some water, after that let’s go find Tsukki and Hinata” Kageyama nodded in response.

“Mikasa!” Armin screamt, following the scream both Tsukishima and Hinata stopped landing by a window of a house. Turning around to face Daisuke, Hinata spoke “Sorry Daisuke, I’m going to check on them once” Hinata then hopped of the window sill and followed Armin’s voice.

“That idiot” Tsukishima swore before taking off himself.

Daisuke anxiously looked back and forth before deciding to follow the other two. 

Landing on HQ’s rooftop Jean, Reiner, Connie, Bertholdth, Annie, Atsumu, Osamu, Suna and Armin stood with a rather shook face. Both Tsukishima and Hinata faced looked at each other confused about the atmosphere. Hinata then walked up to Atsumu and placed his hand on his shoulder. Atsumu flinched at this.

“What’s going on Atsu-” Looking at where they were looking Hinata gasped as he stood wide-eyed. “I-Is that?”

“That’s Eren alright” Atsumu confirmed

“B-He-Wait-I-H-He died…” Hinata said utterly muddled

“I don’t know about what ya saw but he’s alive alright…. He was t-that t-titan” Atsumu said hesitantly 

Tsukishima stood disoriented, whatever was happening was not going down well with the government nor the military. But could a human even be inside a titan? He thought. All of them just stood in place as Armin went down to Mikasa. It was their first time seeing Mikasa cry.

“Oi oi oi!” Daisu ke interrupted “That titan was Eren?! So Eren….” Looking around, he pointed at titans that Eren had killed “S-So Eren did this…?”

The rest of them took time to process the information Daisuke had pointed out. “I….I guess” Osamu replied.

Reiner was the first to speak up. “Get Mikasa and let’s go.” Everyone turned towards him “This place isn’t safe anymore especially with Eren’s titan gone. Let’s see what to do with the military inside”

“R-Right” both Hinata and Daisuke replied in unison

Tsukishima was the first to turn around, However, he took his time to leave. “Oi Tsukishima let’s go” Hinata said as the rest began to leave. Tsukishima gave a side glance to Hinata before replying with a ‘yeah’.

Going above the gate, Hinata had cold sweat dripping down his forehead. The soldiers who had been alerted about the situation looked terrified as they asked them not to speak about anything to anyone. As much as they wanted to stay with Eren, they couldn’t as they were chased off. Mikasa and Armin insisted and didn’t move an inch away from Eren. Tsukishima forced Hinata to follow him. He did not want more trouble than how much they already were in already. He was smart and unlike Armin **with the current situation** , he was rational. He knew that something would go wrong if they continued to stay with Eren. The military was either going to treat him as human weapon or they were going to exterminate him as a threat to humanity. Almost everyone is the garrison was a coward, there is absolutely no way any of them would be rational enough to think of a way to use Eren. They’d probably get rid of him instantly. Tsukishima didn’t want to risk anything.

“W-What’s happening?” Hinata asked rather nervously. He walked looking at the ground avoiding all possible interactions.

“You think I’d know shrimp? For now let’s just look for his highness and Yamaguchi” None of them were in a mood to argue so, they just quietly walked the streets of Hermina. Forcing themselves through a huge crowd, Hinata caught on to Tsukishima’s jacket in order to not get lost. The streets were filled with cadets and soldiers, the atmosphere was heavy and gloomy. Distant screams and cries were heard, several of who had lost their loved ones.

Hinata couldn’t bear to look up, he felt guilty. Maybe if he was in his right senses from the start maybe, just maybe a few more from his team could’ve survived. The thought of it made him want to scream, however his voice never came out.

Hinata snapped out of it as He ran into Tsukishima’s back. Massaging his forehead which hit one of Tsukishima’s equipment’s. “What’s your deal stopping suddenly lik-”

Hinata gave out a quiet gasp as he saw the back of a buy with familiar dark grayish-green hair in a distance. Even though only his back was seen, they could tell that he looked confused. “Isn’t that Yamag-”

Tsukishima didn’t let Hinata finish, instead he quickly walked towards the boy. Walking had never seemed slower to Tsukishima. It was as if each step took an hour to complete. He was certain, certain that the boy who resided in front of him was Yamaguchi. Taking quicker steps, he nearly ran to him.

“Yamaguchi” he said loudly

The boy in front of him jolted before turning around to face him. “T-tsukki?” he asked. The boy in front of him really was Yamaguchi. A Yamaguchi who hadn’t been half eaten one who was alive and breathing. Sure he had a bandage wrapped around his head but that was okay.

Yamaguchi jerked once again after fully realising the situation, covering his head with his hand he tried to play it cool “T-Tsukki, y-you’re okay huh? I mean I knew that y-you’d be b-but still-haha” he looked away embarrassed. “K-Kageyama told me that you’d b-be oka-”

Yamaguchi was cut off as he felt warmth and a pair of arms clasped around him. It took him a minute to realise that he was being hugged, hugged by the person he has admired his entire life. “T-Tsukki?”

“You’ve done well”

That’s all I took for warm tears to stream down his face. It was like a huge bubble broke and all the emotions that were trapped in his body started to overflow. He hugged Tsukishima back as he cried hard. Grabbing onto him like it was his last, he refused to let go. Tsukishima gave him a small smile, Mikasa was right. The world is a very harsh place but it’s also very beautiful. A hug from Tsukishima was what felt like a hug from autumn. It was bitter-sweet. Tsukishima gently caressed the back of Yamaguchi’s head as continued to cry his heart out.

“S-Sorry Tsukki”

“Shut up Yamaguchi”

Hinata who was in the back continued to watch for a while before smiling. Turning around the other way he walked away from them. He looked up at the yellowish-orange sky.

“So that’s how it is”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I'm soo sorry about the about the late update and unfortunately I won't be able to regularly update this month TT. I have some really important exams coming up and I have to focus on that for the time being. I will be updating but probably only once this month. On the bright side I will be able to update properly after that! I apologise for the inconvenience and I hope you like this chapter!


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